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Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to clarify that the Bob Hope School in Beaumont did not receive a “D” rating from the TEA. The “D” rating was from a internal review that projected a D rating for the school. The TEA has not yet released the rating for the 2023-2024 school year.

Bob Hope School officials held a press conference Thursday to address concerns after its Beaumont campus was listed for sale in January. The listing comes after the school had received a D- rating from an internal review. The rating would reflect that would reflect the one given by the Texas Education Agency. 

The closing is not expected to negatively affect the other Bob Hope Schools in Port Arthur and Baytown. 

“Unfortunately, for many reasons, despite years of trying to bring (past) success to our Beaumont campus, we have not been successful at that location,” said Bobby Lopez, CEO of Bob Hope Schools. 

The result is the low rating from TEA and, as a result, a $1 million loss in funding, according to Lopez. That figure stems from a loss of grant funding for any new charter schools that the Bob Hope system may want to open. Charter systems that fall below an average of a B rating are not eligible for start-up funds provided by the state.  

The current TEA rating of the Beaumont campus lowers the average of the Bob Hope Charter system, thus making it ineligible for state funding without action being taken. 

“In Beaumont, the student turnover rate is high, and as such we have not had the opportunity to teach these children so that they can mature through our program,” said Lopez. “That’s not to say given time and continued effort and expenditures we could not implement ‘a cradle to the grave’ success in Beaumont, for sure we could but in reality we don’t have the time.” 

The current plan is to sell the campus by the end of April and have the new school system buyer retain many, if not all, of the same faculty and staff to have a smooth transition for students who wish to continue on at the Beaumont campus location. 

If the building is not purchased by the April deadline, the school will remain under the Bob Hope name and would close by the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. Lopez states that in the case of campus closure, the teachers and staff at the Beaumont campus would be given the opportunity to apply at the other campuses that Bob Hope has. 

“Under the watchful eye of the TEA, failed charter schools close; the parents and students in this community deserve better and the potential for other public school programs in that location will be open through this decision.” said Lopez. 

The funds from the sale of the Beaumont campus are set to be applied to the other Bob Hope campuses. The bond that Bob Hope currently has requires the money gained from the sale of the campus to go towards bond debt that must be repaid, says Lopez.

Bob Hope currently plans for six more campuses in the Houston area over the next four years with a campus in Cypress this August and a campus in Pasadena sometime next year.