Agora cyber charter still mum on layoff numbers

Five days after Agora, the second-largest cyber charter school in Pennsylvania, laid off scores of teachers and staffers, it still was refusing to disclose the number of people let go.

The school, which has headquarters in King of Prussia and enrolls 8,500 students across the state, repeatedly has declined to specify a layoff total.

Current and laid-off employees, however, said their tallies showed that more than 100 people lost their jobs, possibly as many as 150.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, which oversees cyber schools, said the schools are not required by law to inform the department of layoffs and furloughs. Nicole Reigelman said that as a courtesy, it is helpful if the department is notified.

"That did not occur in this case," she said, adding that the department was looking into the matter.

The cutbacks Friday also included shuttering Agora's Learning Resource Center on Henry Avenue in East Falls. Staff at the center, including learning-support coaches who worked with struggling students, were among those who received pink slips.

Agora officials have blamed the continuing budget impasse in Harrisburg for the school's financial problems.

"The commonwealth's failure to pass a budget necessitated that Agora make a substantial number of layoffs to survive," the school said in a statement Monday night.

The school said it decided to cut staff after "all other options [had] been exhausted."

"Agora serves more than 8,500 students from almost every school district in Pennsylvania, and the majority of those students' sending districts have cut down or eliminated payments completely," the statement read. "In order to continue serving our students and their families, and to not jeopardize the education of our children, the decision to restructure the school's staff was inevitable."

The Agora board approved a restructuring plan at a special meeting last Thursday.

martha.woodall@phillynews.com 215-854-2789