Kestrel Heights 'focused & ready' for basketball semis despite closure

Kestrel Heights, a charter school in Durham, will not be allowed to serve high school students after this year.

The State Board of Education voted on Thursday to close the high school at Kestrel Heights after it was discovered 40 percent of graduates received diplomas they did not earn over the last eight years. The school will be allowed to continue serving students in elementary and middle school grades.

Kestrel Heights' boys basketball team has had much success this season. The Hawks are 30-1 overall and won the North Central Athletic Conference title with a perfect 18-0 record. The team is slated to play Riverside-Martin for the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A eastern regional championship on Saturday in Fayetteville. The winner will advance to the state championship game.

The Kestrel Heights athletic department tweeted on Thursday afternoon, "In light of the sad news today...our men's [basketball] team is focused & ready to compete."

In light of the sad news today...our men's 🏀team is focused & ready to compete this Saturday in the @NCHSAA Final 4!

— KHS_athletics (@theheightshawks) March 2, 2017

HighSchoolOT.com has reached out to the NCHSAA for comment.

Over the last several years, a debate has taken place in the NCHSAA about charter schools and other non-traditional schools. Critics say they have an unfair competitive advantage over the traditional public schools who have geographic attendance boundaries.

Kestrel Heights has ten days to appeal the decision by the State Board of Education. If they do, a panel of state board members will review the request.

The school is scheduled to close on July 1. It will be eligible to apply to reopen after three years.

Follow Nick Stevens on Twitter @NickStevensHSOT