Parents await word on future of troubled school

Parents of children who attend a struggling downtown private school may find out as soon as Friday whether the Atlanta New Century School has a future.

New Century administrators broke the news to parents last week about its financial problems. School founder Cole Walker said its move last year to a new facility on Ralph McGill Boulevard “wound up being more expensive than anticipated.”

However, there also appears to be a rift among school leaders contributing to its upheaval.

On Monday, the school held a private meeting with parents and staff to discuss the future of the small school, which enrolls about 100 students and has about 20 staffers.

Angela Edmond, who took the day-to-day reins from Walker before he moved four years ago to Huntsville, Ala., announced Tuesday that the school would continue under her leadership with a new name at its current location.

But later that evening, a New Century board member told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Edmond was no longer with the school and that New Century is not affiliated with Edmond’s new school.

Parents who attended the private meeting said they were asked to keep the discussion confidential. But they also said school officials who attended the meeting indicated they would announce a plan of action by today. New Century opened in 1995.