Parents Reeling From Closure Of Cedar Park School For Autistic Teens

CEDAR PARK, TX — Parents of autistic children are reeling from news that the Hector E. Ponce Academy—a school catering to autistic teenagers at 901 Cypress Creek Road—is likely to be shuttered forever unless funds can be raised allowing it to re-open.

Opened last August, the private closed Dec. 26 after its officials ran out the money, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday. Tina Ponce, the founder and director of the school, told the newspaper that two anonymous benefactors emerged in allowing the academy to operate until February but later conveyed they wouldn't be able to provide further funding.

As a result, school officials now have set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds to keep the school going. The fundraiser is needed as the school needed to have operated a full year to be eligible for grants. So far, only $70 of a $550,000 goal had been raised since the fundraising page was created on Tuesday.

On their GoFundMe page, school officials attribute their closure to the Texas Legislature's $350 million cuts for outpatient speech, occupational and physical therapy benefiting children with disabilities. The cuts took effect in mid-December after the Texas Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit over the budget cut's legality.

Speaker of the House Joe Straus has since voiced hopes of somehow restoring the funding loss, but the future of the Cedar Park school hangs in the balance while a decision is made. Without immediate cash infusions, it's in danger of closing its doors forever.

With many public schools placing a cap on the number of disabled kids they enroll, schools for autistic children are even harder to find, adding to the urgency of saving the Hector E. Ponce Academy, officials noted.

"Our school provides the learning environment for students with Autism, therapy services of more than 15 hours per week, and a bridge for students to transition to society prepared," officials write on their GoFundMe page. "The Ponce Academy has a rating and grading system that provies objective data of student progress and their level of independence as well a program that will train autism children in areas of technology, music, and art."

But perhaps most importantly is the path the school provides for its students once they enter adulthood: "Most importantly, the school has a program that will transition these students to work and/or college studies that has been approved by the Texas Workforce Commission," school officials wrote.

"Without your generous support, this school will be forced to close," officials said. "The time is now for an incredible opportunity to serve a population that has been largely forgotten and decimated by state budget cuts."

On the school's Facebook page, parents offer powerful testimonials in praising the school's effectiveness in helping young people with autism, and the impact it's had on their children. One father spoke of the effect the school's programs have had on his son, Asher, in the short six months he had been enrolled.

"During that six month time, his life has been transformed," the father said. "The Asher I knew six months ago is no longer with us. He is happy, he is confident and he is learning."

A mother speaks of the convenience the school offers her, giving her the ability to drop her son off in the morning with the assurance he is in a safe environment where the full array of therapies are offered.

"It's all the therapy he needs in one place, and I don't have to run all over town," she said. "It's all right here, in one place. And it's wonderful."

According to information school officials provided to the Statesman, the academy had 10 students and 11 teachers. The found launched the facility after spending 17 years in private practice as a speech-language pathologist. The school is named after her father, who made the initial financial contribution enabling her to open the school.

To contribute to the Henry E. Ponce Academy, click here.

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