It looks like Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Organization has taken another blow. Huffington Post reports:
More than 200 Georgia students are in search of a new school following the announcement of New Birth Christian Academy closing its doors after 18 years of establishment.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the school's founder, Bishop Eddie Long, notified parents via a December 22 letter signed by the board's vice-chairman, Carlton Donald stating that funding and low enrollment "are the main issues" for the school's "temporarily closing."
"Funding estimates fall far short of our projected needs. It is a very sad occasion, as the NBCA board has made the tough decision to temporarily close the school," Donald stated in the letter. "We have operated New Birth Christian Academy for several years with substantial deficits in hopes that the national economic climate would change, however, that change never materialized."
According to the private institution's website, tuition at the pre-K-12 school ranged from $5,253 for New Birth members to $6,198 for non-members with more than $1,000 in non-refundable fees.
Though Donald went on to say that the academy's staff will assist in helping students find new schools, parents are outraged by the timing of the announcement. One parent spoke to local Atlanta news outlet WSBTV Channel 2 expressing that; "It's almost like they purposely waited for the holiday before they sent out this letter. I mean, a letter (that says) my daughter basically does not have a school to go to on January 4."
Housed inside Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, the unidentified parent also believes that the abrupt closing is a result of Long's much publicized sex abuse allegations."I believe that this last straw with the divorce, the sealed settlement, it just does not look good," said the parent.
A spokesperson for New Birth Missionary Baptist Church says that the school's closure has nothing to do with Long, according to the outlet.
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