Charter board votes down new schools in Jackson
No new charters schools were approved by Mississippi’s Charter School Authorizer Board this year.
The board voted 4-2 on Monday to deny an application from Ohio-based I Can Schools that sought to open three elementary schools in Jackson. The board cited concerns over test performance in the operator’s established schools in two other states.
An independent evaluator recommended the board reject I Can Schools' application ht to establish Mississippi Preparatory, which would have consisted of three kindergarten through eighth-grade charter schools in Jackson, with the first to open in2017, followed by one each in 2018 and 2019.
Board member Krystal Cormack, who chairs the application committee, said the evaluation of I Can Schools showed “inconsistent” and “mixed results” in the organization’s Ohio and Indiana schools.
Data from the Cleveland, Ohio, school district revealed one of the operator’s K-8 schools failed to outperform the district in reading. A school based in Akron, Ohio, scored lower than the district in math and reading.
“They fall very short in my view,” Cormack said. Cormack added the board needed to make it a priority to “ensure schools we add to our portfolio have the capacity to be strong.”
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Board member Karen Elam made a motion that the organization be allowed to open one school to start, instead of three, and be permitted to open others as it met certain performance standards. Elam expressed concerns that voting no would deter other school operators from applying.
“Have you considered the message this sends to other authorizers?” Elam asked.
I Can Schools only partially met the requirement for operational standards because of the academic performance in some of its schools.
The Charter School Act requires existing charter school operators with one or more schools to provide evidence of past performance and current capacity for growth. Applicants must also submit clear evidence demonstrating statistically significant gains in student achievement or consistently produce proficiency levels as measured on state achievement tests.
Elam, along with board member Johnny Franklin, argued the schools, if given enough time, would likely be able to make gains.
“(They) are working with populations that are distressed to start with,” Franklin said.
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Tommie Cardin, outgoing chairman of the board, said the operator did not meet the “clear evidence” standard.
“I don’t want to lower the bar. ... I want to make sure the children of Jackson are given the education they need,” said state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright, a board member.
Of the two operators that made it to the final stages of the proposal process, I Can Schools was the only one remaining for the board’s September vote. Another operator, the New Orleans-based Collegiate, withdrew its application.
Mississippi will still see the opening of one new charter school in the 2017 academic year. Nashville-based Reimagine Prep will open the state’s fourth charter school, Joel E. Smillow Collegiate. Originally set to open in 2016, Republic Schools pushed the opening for the K-8 school located in north Jackson to fall 2017.
Mississippi has three charter schools, all based in Jackson. The newest one, elementary school Smillow Prep, opened in August.
Contact Bracey Harris at bharris2@gannett.com or 601-961-7248. Follow her on Twitter.