(The Daily Advertiser) – Athlos Academies has dropped its plans for a charter school in Lafayette Parish.

“We made the decision to pull the charter application for Athlos Academy of Lafayette to re-evaluate the opportunity to pursue more strategic local efforts,” said Skyra Rideaux, Athlos Academy of Lafayette board chair, via email.

Athlos had been pursuing a possible Lafayette K-6 school since last summer. The Lafayette Parish School Board denied its request last June.

Since then, Athlos’ application was pending a review by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The board was slated to hear it this week. State officials announced Friday that Athlos had withdrawn the application.

Late last summer, Athlos launched a website and Facebook page to gauge community interest in a possible new school.

“Our board has always been very committed to building collaborative partnerships that add value to our local community and provide high quality education to students in our parish,” Rideaux continued.

“There are still many families with limited high-quality, alternative schooling options for their children,” she added. “With that in mind, our board will remain engaged and continue to work with the local school board, community leaders and parents to evaluate opportunities for the school moving forward.”

Lafayette Parish has three charter schools – Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy, Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy and Willow Charter Academy.

The Lafayette Parish School System is in discussions with Jefferson Chamber Foundation Academies about a possible collaboration on a school for at-risk and non-traditional students.