SCS: Reject charter applications
Ten education groups want to open 18 new local charter schools in fall 2019, but Shelby County Schools administrators don’t believe any qualify to do so.
The administration is not recommending the school board approve any of the 18 applications, including nine filed by the group aiming to replace the Memphis Jubilee Catholic Schools network. Brad Leon, the district’s chief of strategy and performance management, presented his recommendation to the school board Thursday in a committee meeting.
The board will vote in two weeks whether to approve or deny each charter’s application.
If the board follows the administration’s recommendations, the groups will have 30 days to revise their application and submit it for reconsideration by the school board.
“Most of the time, it’s rare that a school will get through on the first round,” Leon said.
In a 300-plus page document, Leon said, there’s likely at least one area each school needs to improve. Those issues could be minor, such as not budgeting enough money for textbooks, and fixable in the 30-day timeline. But the concerns with some schools may be more difficult to change in that time frame.
In the case of New Day Schools Inc., the group looking to replace the Jubilee schools, Leon said his team has concerns about the organization’s capacity to open all nine schools at once, and that the mission and vision of each school was too vague.
The group, headed by Christian Brothers University President John Smarrelli, applied for nine schools called Compass Community Schools.
The Catholic Diocese of Memphisannounced in January that it planned to shut down its network of schools that serve predominantly low-income students after the 2018-19 school year.
Smarelli said he was not frustrated that the schools were not approved at first.
“I applaud Shelby County for diligence,” he said.
The schools would continue to operate under the new group in neighborhoods like Binghampton, Midtown, Hickory Hill, Downtown, Mound and South Memphis.
Another group, Green Dot Public Schools, is asking to open a college preparatory school for grades kindergarten through eight. The board twice rejected an application from the group two years ago because of concerns of the group’s academic history in Memphis.
The academics haven’t improved, Leon said. Orange
The state Board of Education overturned the local school board’s decision to reject Green Dot from opening that school two years ago. The school opened, but the state board oversees it.
Leon said he still doesn’t plan to recommend the group open another school. Reporter Abigail Warren contributed to this story.