As students return to classrooms, some LGBTQ+ kids were hoping to start the year at a first-of-its kind school in Connecticut that would cater specifically to their needs. PROUD Academy was set to open its doors Tuesday, but that did not happen because the private school needs more funding.
One of those kids is Tarin Degnan. Taking home a win in a game of Uno against his mom could not be easier for the rising senior, but at school he said it’s harder to feel like he is winning since he came out as transgender.
“It’s just not pleasant,” Degnan said.
“A lot of kids being mean, in the hallways, yelling slurs at him,” Rebecca Degnan, his mother, added.
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It is why Tarin and his mom were hopeful that he would spend his senior year at PROUD Academy. It would be the first private school in New England for LGBTQ+ students and allies.
“I thought it would be great to have a safe school environment for kids that are a part of the LGBTQ community,” Tarin Degnan said.
“We were really kind of hoping that he could have at least for one school year, a positive experience, where he could really be himself and be not only accepted, but celebrated for that,” Rebecca Degnan said.
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PROUD Academy aimed to open its doors at the Boys and Girls Club located in Ansonia the day after Labor Day, but on Tuesday, the learning and recreational spaces were empty.
“It's a little disappointing. I know we'll get there,” Patricia Nicolari, PROUD Academy founder, said. “We're more than a school, we are a movement. And it takes money."
Nicolari said to open, PROUD Academy needed 20 enrolled students paying the full yearly tuition of $20,000, or outside funding for financial aid.
“We had a total of about 15 students, maybe 10 needed financial assistance,” Nicolari said.
She said there were two major obstacles to enrollment: transportation and the cost of tuition.
If the nonprofit got the full $400,000 for the academic year, Nicolari said it would cover the school’s lease at the Boys and Girls Club, and salaries for three full-time teachers.
Doug Perry is one prospective teacher that was eager to jump on board at PROUD Academy to teach music. He is a member of the LGBT+ community.
“I faced a lot of harassment and bullying as a kid,” Perry said.
Now he wants to be a role model for young people and help them better understand their identities.
“If there's something I could be a part of to help make that process a little easier for the next generation, it would be really special and really meaningful for me,” Perry said.
For now, Tarin will have those kind of conversations with his mom, who runs a counseling practice for the LGBTQ+ community, understanding he will not be able to spend his senior year at PROUD Academy.
“It's just going to be such a loving, such a caring, such an amazing place where everyone can express themselves freely and focus on learning,” Tarin Degnan said.
Now Tarin hopes to be a supportive voice for other LGBTQ+ youth, showing them that who they are should make them proud.
“It can be very life changing,” he said. “It can be lifesaving, in fact, it really can be.”
To open, PROUD Academy would need to get additional grant or foundation funding, or get those 20 enrolled full-paying students.
If either of those things happen, Nicolari said PROUD Academy could open as early as January. It would start by serving seventh and eight grade students, but the goal would ultimately be to become a school for grades seven through 12.
