IRMO, S.C. — News19 previously reported on parents in Irmo scrambling to find a new school for their children after Ascent Classical Academy announced they would not open their doors for the upcoming school year.
But families aren’t the only ones affected by the school's delayed debut. The academy's now former staff have been left to find new employment.
On the same day that parents received an e-mail from Ascent stating that, because of permitting issues, they would not be opening their Irmo campus this fall, a message went out to nearly 25 teachers saying they no longer had jobs.
Glenn Robinson said Ascent Classical hired her as a teacher and an administrator. He was looking forward to the school’s inaugural year in Irmo when the news of his termination came, seemingly out of the blue.
"It felt like a gut-punch, it really did. This is a corporation that has core values such as virtue, honor, trust, and frankly I felt betrayed,” Robinson said.
While some would-be faculty members were Midlands residents, several came from as far away as Arizona, giving up their previous positions to go to Irmo and teach for Ascent Classical.
Robinson explained the impact the firing had on his now-former colleagues.
“To show you this impact, we had folks that left jobs in Arizona and came here for this opportunity. We had another young lady leave a position in Idaho and come to this same opportunity. We’ve got people that put money into the pot, to come here just to join this staff and the rug was pulled out from underneath them,” he said.
Robinson said Ascent Classical did offer to set up a meeting with a human resources representative from Lexington Richland School District Five, but even with that meeting, finding a new teaching job at this point in the summer would be challenging.
"With the Ascent people, there were 25 of us there. I’m the only one of us that I know of, to this point, that has secured employment,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he’s personally contacted other former Ascent Classical employees to offer assistance in finding new positions.
News19 contacted Ascent Classical Academy for more information on what they’re doing to help their displaced staff but have not yet received a response.