(Host) A Manchester boarding school for troubled girls will close at the end of this school year, eliminating about 45 jobs.
Bromley Brook School is part of a large network of therapeutic schools, residential treatment programs and camps run by the Aspen Education Group of California.
Bromley Brook is one of eight schools the company is closing due to a decreasing demand.
Company president Phil Herschman, says there’s as much need as there ever was for the services the school provides for teens struggling with substance abuse, behavioral and other problems.
But tuition, more than $6,500 a month, is not covered by insurance.
(Herschman) "Historically families had to borrow money either through education loans, or home equity or third party loans, and when the credit markets dried up at the start of the recession, that’s when enrollment started to tumble dramatically."
(Host) The school currently has 55 students, down from a peak of about 80. Herschman says the facility will stay open until July, so that as many students as possible can graduate.
The Aspen Education Group still operates 18 schools, and Herschman says that number is more workable, given the reduced demand.
The school currently leases its campus in Manchester.