In a bombshell announcement coming at the tail end of the academic year, administrators of the lakeside’s Roosevelt School informed staff, students and parents that the institution was shutting the doors, ceasing operations for the 2013-2014 term.
The decision was revealed on July 12, sparking immediate dilemmas for the families of around 120 students enrolled in the private school that has operated locally since 1999 under the umbrella of Roosevelt School Guadalajara.
An ad hoc parents committee led by Brad Grieve quickly scrambled to work up a rescue plan to continue the pre-school through grade nine bilingual education program under a new name. There were promising signs the effort would pay off, but after exploring all avenues — including appeals that went all the up the chain of command to Jalisco’s Department of Education chief Francisco Ayon — Grieve learned early this week that the time-critical process to obtain government authorization was a mission impossible.Grieve says that Roosevelt’s Guadalajara director Mary Carmen Guerrero Garcia has yet to give a full explanation for the precipitous closure, which under official regulations should have been determined no later than May 31. He did acknowledge that the school has refunded pre-paid enrollment fees for the new term and that the 18 teachers and auxiliary staff in its employ received full severance pay.
As Grieve pursues a revival goal for next year, most Roosevelt students have already been placed in one of the other seven private schools located in the Chapala-Ajijic corridor.