Memphis-Shelby School Board Votes Against Qualified Charter School Seeking To Serve Priority School Students

Image Credit: scsk12.org

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

Last week, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) Board of Education voted against a qualified charter school seeking to serve Priority School students.

In a strange turn of events, the board approved the amended application for a different charter that failed to meet state standards during multiple reviews. Independent reviewers with the Quality Charter Review (QCR) and the charter review team for the district both concluded that Tennessee Career Academy did not sufficiently meet the standards for the application to receive approval.

Assistant Superintendent of Charter Schools for MSCS Brittany Monda expressed concern over how much of the foundation of the school, with its focus on Career and Technical Education (CTE), would be parceled out to a third party vendor. 

“A lot of the critical components of this school are rooted in a third party contracted vendor to carry out of a lot of the hiring, a lot of the recruitment efforts, the professional development, the curriculum development and as a school that is finding their identity within the community, there’s concerns about how that will overall be executed,” she said.

But the five board members who voted in favor of Tennessee Career Academy – to be led by a former Deputy Superintendent from the district – found the CTE focus of the school worthy of their support.

The plan for the school is to eventually serve 750 students in grades 6 – 12. CTE pathways would include business and communication, health and human services, engineering and advanced manufacturing, and skilled trades.

The school’s initial application was denied by the board last April, along with Pathways in Education, CHANGE Academy, and Empower Memphis Career and College Prep.

Another proposed charter with a CTE focus, Empower Memphis, was voted down by the board members who were present at last week’s meeting without discussion despite it being higher rated. 

Empower Memphis was found by the district charter review team and QCR to have met all state requirements, however, the district did not recommend approval citing saturation in the Orange Mound and South Memphis communities.

Forty percent of the public schools in those communities are classified as low performing Priority Schools.

In a press release published after the board’s meeting, Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) stated that MSCS’s decision to vote against Empower Memphis was a vote to “ignore the need families in South Memphis and Orange Mound have for a high-quality public school choice.”

Latetrica Wilson, West Tennessee Advocacy Coordinator for TSS said that the board did not take into consideration population growth, or the needs that students have both now and will have in the future.

“The board should focus its attention not on empty seats, but on seats filled with students who are falling behind and want more diverse learning options,” Wilson stated. “Empower Memphis would provide families with the choice of attending a rigorous and supportive learning environment that accelerates academic achievement, fosters individuality, inspires leadership, and cultivates the career mindsets students will need to succeed. There is a need for more high performing schools in the South Memphis and Orange Mound communities that will prepare students for career, college, and beyond. There is no elementary or middle school that has a career and college focus curriculum in the district.”

Empower Memphis, along with two other charters whose applications were declined will have the chance to appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission this fall.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.