SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KRON) — Students, parents and elected officials voiced their concerns on Wednesday over a Sunnyvale charter school set to close its doors.

Earlier this month, the Summit Public Schools board voted to close Summit Denali Charter School. The school has more than 600 middle school and high school students. 

The announcement was unwelcome news for some parents who will now have to find a new school for their children. “They could have come to us at any point and said, ‘We are going to close the school unless we raise this or unless we get out numbers up from here,’ and we could have all chipped in and done it,” said Jill Rakestaw, parent.

The Summit Public Schools board has claimed that Denali is losing millions of dollars per year and cannot justify keeping it operating. They said that a decline in state funding and COVID relief money has led to a lingering budget deficit.

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Parents and some elected officials in Sunnyvale are skeptical. “I am here to call on the state to audit Summit Public Schools. I am here because an organization with a see sweet this heavy, should have been able to find the budget to help keep this school afloat,” said Richard Melhinger, Sunnyvale city councilmember.

Summit Denali is scheduled to close in June after the end of the current school year.