Five proposed charter schools received initial approval from the state Board of Education Wednesday and must now go before the state legislature for a final step in the process before they can open their doors and begin enrolling students.
Among the schools that the board approved was Proudly Respecting Our Unique Differences (PROUD) Academy in Ansonia, which was initially founded in 2023 as a private middle school geared toward LGBTQ+ students and their allies, but shifted to a tuition-free model to better support students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, founder Patty Nicolari said.
“Our board felt funding LGBTQ+ students’ education should be a responsibility of the state,” Nicolari said…