ST. CLOUD -- Parents, students, and staff at Stride Academy can breathe a little easier.

The school announced Thursday their current authorizer, Friends of Education, has approved a transfer of the school to a different authorizer.

The group expected to take over is Pillsbury United Communities. School Board President Sara Fromm says the transfer gives new life to the school and a chance for the board to focus on the future.

"We've been treading water recently, so knowing we can hopefully move on with a new authorizer, gives us a lot of room to think about how we want to bring our best educational practices, support our kids and continue to support our community."

In April, Stride Academy was denied a renewal of their license and forced to announce their closure. In June, the school was given a one-year extension.

Because of the change, the school adopted a kindergarten - 6th-grade model, instead of kindergarten - 8th grade. Fromm says with the authorization, the school will take a deeper look into growing enrollment and possibly adding additional grade levels.

"I imagine we would add some additional sections in our current school levels. Middle School is a whole different animal, so I'm not sure we would add that immediately, but we want to continue to grow our enrollment and our grade levels."

The Pillsbury United Communities board still needs to approve the authorization, which could happen by mid-December. If approved the contract would begin on July 1st.

Details on the length of the contract is unknown at this time.

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