Instead of making its case to the State Board of Education that it should not be barred from public funds, the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. School for Autism in Brattleboro will shut down.

The year-round therapeutic school informed the Vermont Agency of Education on Friday that it was planning to close its doors Sept. 2. Because the school usually takes a two-week hiatus starting this week, the last day for students will be Thursday.

The school has been on probation since last year, after state investigators concluded that the school’s leaders appeared unaware of their basic duty to offer students content-area instruction. I.N.S.P.I.R.E.’s accounting practices were also shoddy, regulators said, and the school had overcharged districts by at least $136,000.

Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders

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