The CEO of Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys is fighting back after it appears Baltimore City Public Schools went outside its own regulations in the process of closing his school. Edwin Avent says the district set his charter school up for failure by not following the rules.
On January 14, 2026, after months of debate, The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, with a six to four vote, passed a resolution to close, at the end of this school year, The Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys – Maryland’s only all-boys public school.
“I was devastated when the vote came down against us,” said Avent, the school’s CEO. “It seems like every time that there’s an all-male school in this city, they close them.”
The Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys opened in 2015. This year, 303 boys, mostly black from disadvantaged backgrounds, attended the fourth to eighth grade charter school.
Edwin Avent is the CEO of The Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys (WBFF)
“We have high expectations. We put them in uniforms, shirts and ties, and we show them how to carry themselves,” explained Avent. “And parents really respond to that.”
But now, Avent says, by the school board voting to shut down Boys Collegiate, hundreds of students will lose their school of choice. And a Project Baltimore investigation found, the way City Schools handled Avent’s charter review process three years ago may have set his school up to fail.
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Avent’s concerns begin in early 2023. That year, his school’s charter was set to expire. On January 18 of that year, Avent received an email from North Avenue explaining his school, “will be recommended for non-renewal.” Avent was told to inform his staff and families.
The following month, however, the school system changed course, and the school board voted to renew the charter for three years. But Avent says the damage had already been done because his families were initially told the school was closing and many left.
On January 18, 2023, Avent received an email from North Avenue explaining his school, “will be recommended for non-renewal.” (WBFF)
“What that does to us is it freezes all of our fundraising. It freezes all of our enrollment,” Avent told Project Baltimore. “Families are making other choices where they’re going to send their sons, because they think our school will close.”
The following school year, enrollment at Avent’s school plummeted from 453 during the 2022/23 school year to 325 in 2023/24, which Avent says crippled the school financially.
“They scare away people and we can’t make the money. And then they tell us we have money problem,” said Avent.
City Schools board-approved regulation regarding public charter schools explains the public is to be notified after the school board votes to close a charter school. There is no mention of the public being notified before the board’s vote.
But that process is not what happened to Avent’s school in 2023 or more recently.
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On November 12, 2025, with the school’s charter again up for renewal, City Schools’ CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises recommended to “not renew” Boys Collegiate’s charter. Her recommendation was made public. And this time, the board voted to close Avent’s school stating it was “not effective” in student achievement and financial management. But Avent says, by making any non-renewal recommendations public before the board votes, the district essentially is handing a financial death sentence to a school.
Student enrollment at Avent’s school plummeted from 453 during the 2022/23 school year to 325 in 2023/24, which Avent says crippled the school financially (WBFF)
“They’re not following the regulations,” stated Avent. “We can’t raise our income.”
Project Baltimore, on Tuesday, reached out to Baltimore City Public Schools regarding the process for charter school renewals. The school system had not provided a response by the time of publishing.
Avent tells Fox45 News he will appeal Baltimore City’s School Board’s decision to the Maryland State Board of Education, where he will argue regulations were not followed which made it nearly impossible for his school to survive.
Follow Project Baltimore’s Chris Papst on X and Facebook. Send news tips to cjpapst@sbgtv.com
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