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Prime Prep, Charter School Started By Deion Sanders Closed

January 30, 2015 / 9:43 PM CST / CBS Texas

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by Deion Sanders, closed today. The Texas Education Agency said the school doesn't have the money to continue one more day. The announcement has left families scrambling to figure out where their children are going to go to school.

"While there was hope this charter could survive through the end of the school year, the financial resources simply aren't there," the state's education commissioner said in a statement.

The commissioner lashed into Prime Prep's previous leadership Friday. He said the upheaval could have been avoided if school leaders acknowledged their financial problems earlier - and worked toward a transition that put students first. Students like the school's star quarterback Micheal Curtis, who left early Friday when he realized it was his last day at the school.

"It wasn't that today we were caught off guard or anything, but today's kind of the last day you can see everybody so it makes it more hard than it would any other day," said Curtis.

It wasn't only an emotional day for Curtis, but for most students who said the school was like a second home for them.

"Everybody starting banging on the walls, yelling 'RIP Prime Prep'," said Prime Prep Student, Ebony Williams.

Texas Education Agency representatives were on-campus, warning students to take all their personal belongings.

"I came back up to say my goodbye's, pay my dues," said Prime Prep student Michael Curtis.

TEA representative gave students a letter with a list of charters within a 10 mile radius where they can enroll. But many students said Prime Prep offered them something they aren't sure they'll find elsewhere.

"You feel you're cared for. You're not just another demographic or a statistic, you're an actual student," said Curtis.