State education officials will allow a private school for special needs students to reopen after they shut it down due to safety concerns.
Acting on a tip, state officials made a surprise visit last month to the Children’s Center for Neurodevelopmental Studies in Glendale near 54th Avenue and Glenn Drive. They found filthy bathrooms, splintered wood, exposed nails and wiring.
School officials have said the problems were immediately fixed, and education officials re-inspected the facilities on Monday.
“We’re pleased that the school was willing to look at the concerns and make sure that they were addressed,” said Charles Tack, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education. “At the end of the day, we were able to make sure that student safety was at the forefront.”
Permission to reopen is good through the end of this school year, Tack said. To operate in the fall, the school will have to re-apply for state approval.
About 120 students have already returned to campus for an after school program after the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities approved the repairs last week.