Benji's Special Educational Academy Independent School District (or Benji's Academy Charter School) was a state charter school with two campuses (including Benji's II) in the

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, EngIand * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vince ...

district of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

,gnmd_map.pdf
." Greater Northside Management District. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. near the Fifth Ward.Mellon, Ericka.
School defying closure order loses bid for funds
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. September 17, 2010. Retrieved on September 18, 2010. The school covered grades Pre-Kindergarten 4-12. The school initially defied an order to close from the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

(TEA). In 2011 it merged with

Leader's Academy High School for Business and Academic Success Leader's Academy High School for Business and Academic Success, previously the High School for Business and Economic Success (HSBES), was a Grade 7–12 state charter school located on the campus of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Win ...

into Victory Preparatory Academy.

History

The school was founded on May 8, 1981 by Theaola Robinson, who served as the executive director and founder of Benji's Academy. Her son, Benjajuain "Benjie" Chandler, was diagnosed with some brain damage at age three. This brain damage may have been inherited, as evidenced by the inability of his mother to spell "Benjamin". According to Robinson, she became frustrated when she did not find any satisfactory schools that would help her son succeed. Therefore Robinson established the school. In November 1998 the school received a charter from the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

(TEA) to serve grades PreK through 12. The TEA board, appointed by TEA commissioner Robert Scott, voted to close Benji's on Monday September 13, 2010 because, according to the board, Benji's was almost bankrupt. According to Debbie Ratliffe, a TEA spokesperson, Benji's had $800 in the bank, with $85,500 owed to the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

(IRS), $350,000 owed to two banks, and additional debts owed to the Texas State Teacher's Retirement System. Robinson defied the state's order to close her school and continued operations. According to

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. The Council has sixteen members: eleven from council districts and five elected at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, wi ...

member Jarvis Johnson, 400 of the school's 500 students attended classes on Wednesday September 15, the day that the TEA's order took effect. The school demanded that the TEA release funds that, according to Benji's, were improperly withheld from the school. On Friday September 17 the school's bid for the release of the funds failed. In 2011 Robinson sued

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the ABC network via its ABC Owned Television Stations division, and maintains studio facilities on Bissonnet Street in Houston's Upper ...

and its parent company,

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, for libel. In 2011 it merged with

into Victory Preparatory Academy after Leader's Academy's board, Management Accountability Corp., took over Benji's School.

School song

Joe Willis wrote and arranged the school song. Cedric Taylor performed the school song.School Song
" Benji's Academy Charter School. November 11, 2002. Retrieved on September 18, 2010.

References

External links

Benji's Academy Charter School
(Archive) *
Benji's Charter School
" '' KIAH-TV'' * Mellon, Ericka.
Fifth Ward charter school defies state order to close
" ''

''. September 15, 2010. {{authority control Charter schools in Houston Charter high schools in Houston 1981 establishments in Texas Educational institutions established in 1981 2011 disestablishments in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 2011 Charter K–12 schools in Texas Public K–12 schools in Houston Defunct public high schools in the United States

History

School song

See also

References

External links