A Manatee County High School for troubled teens is closing its doors.

On Thursday, Superintendent Rick Mills notified the YMCA that the district is not renewing the contract with the “Manatee Y Technological High School.”

The decision is expected to save the school district in excess of $800,000 a year.

“After candid conversations with representatives from the Manatee YMCA this past Monday, we believe this course of action is right for the students involved, the school district as a whole and our community,” said Mills. “We have the necessary infrastructure, the school capacity and capability within our district to meet the needs of these students at a significant cost savings for the district.”

The district is offering the approximately 200 students who attended the school to finish their high school educations through a variety of other educational options, including returning to their zoned schools, attending a new program at Horizon’s Academy, entering adult GED programs or participating in Florida Virtual School’s online courses.

Each student will receive personal counseling to determine their best placement and continued mentor support.

“We have experience in this area because we handled a similar situation last year when Central High School was closed down for budgetary reasons,” said Dr. Diana Greene, Deputy Superintendent of Instructional Services. “We are committed to making sure all of our students have access to counseling, mentoring and all services the school district provides to be successful.”

The chairman of the Board for the Manatee County Family YMCA, Joseph Brannon, was hoping for a different outcome.

“We appreciate the faith you showed in us more than two years ago when the school district asked the YMCA  to step in, at the 11th hour, to provide at-risk students a place to go after the closing of the Richard Milburn Academy,” said Brannon.  “We believe the YMCA remains a vital part of the solution, that it makes economic sense, and that we’ll continue to be able to come through for these children as we’ve done before.”

The contract non-renewal comes just weeks after Manatee County released an audit that found the YMCA had defrauded the county out of at least $100,000 for after school and gang prevention programs.

YMCA officials blame paperwork issues and claims it was not done intentionally.

Staff has been fired and they’ve promised to pay the money back.