This article unpacks the decision to decharter a successful urban middle school serving African American students, especially focusing on parental choice in a school caught between two urban reform initiatives: charter schooling and state takeovers of urban districts. Originally chartered by a university, DeCharter became a "school of choice" in an urban district. Though inclusion of all stakeholders motivated charter school decision-making, the decision to decharter excluded them. Working out the intricacies of "choice" and the influences of the policies on stakeholders' interpretations of dechartering illustrates the complexities of parental choice in urban districts and the unintended effects of reform initiatives. (Contains 1 table.)