10 charter schools want to be part of MSCS. What would they offer?

Later this year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools will consider adding 10 schools to its portfolio of charters, which already includes more than 50 of the district’s 200-plus school sites.

Most of the applicants will be familiar to the district, whose charter school rubrics are known to scrutinize new proposals. But there are a few reasons this year’s slate of schools is different.

For starters: The district and its board will decide the fate of five or six schools that are already open and have previously been traditional Memphis schools. One has existed in Memphis before, a second has unsuccessfully applied, and of three new applications, one is headed up by a former district official.

The first set of schools are applying to return to the Memphis district after stints with the state-run Achievement School District: Fairley High School, Cornerstone Lester Prep, Humes Middle School, MLK College Prep High School and Coleman School. (Hanley School also submitted an application, but it is unclear if the district will review it.)

About a decade ago, the ASD began taking over traditional schools that were low performers in Tennessee, and then most were doled out to charter managers tasked with turning the academic achievement around. Data and studies have shown the state project was largely unsuccessful in its mission.

Schools that meet certain academic criteria can access an application process with another state charter school management arm, the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, and others apply to their local district.

More:Tennessee took over this school a decade ago. In a first, it will return to MSCS as a charter

While six former ASD schools have returned to MSCS, only one of the six has followed this pathway. Last summer, the school board bucked the district’s recommendation to deny Westside Middle School’s application and paved the way for its return as a charter school.

This new slate is a first, and the district has not publicly acknowledged how it may approach the end of the first set of ASD schools, most of which are in Memphis. MSCS still owns most of the school buildings, and is set to create a new five-year facilities plan in the coming weeks and months.

One notable new school application is for Tennessee Career Academy, a proposed career-tech school for students in grades 6-12. The board and staff list is a cast of familiar Memphis education officials, including executive director John Barker. Barker, a former deputy superintendent and acting superintendent at MSCS, retired in the fall after MSCS said a two-months-long investigation cleared him of wrongdoing. (The district has said it will not release the investigative report.)

Founding board president for the proposed career academy is Tom Marino of the Poplar Foundation, who sits on the boards of other area charter schools. Other noted academy affiliates are Tequilla Banks Brownie of national education nonprofit TNTP, former Shelby County Schools and Collierville Schools Superintendent John Aitken, the Collective Blueprint’s top official, Sarah Lockridge-Steckel, plus local businessmen Charles Gerber, Tate Wilson and former NBA star Elliot Perry.

The MSCS board typically reviews applications for the first time in the spring, and a second time in the summer, after the schools make suggested revisions to their proposals. Schools that are denied can typically appeal to the Tennessee Public Charter Schools Commission. The schools in this applicant round would open in fall of 2024.

A brief summary of each applicant is below, based on information submitted in applications to MSCS.

⋅Humes Middle School: A current ASD school under Frayser Community Schools, the North Memphis school proposes to continue its trauma-informed, anti-racist mission for students in the area.

⋅College Prep High School: Also a current ASD school with Frayser Community Schools, the Frayser schools proposes to continue its trauma-informed, anti-racist mission for students in the area.

⋅Fairley High School: The Green Dot ASD charter school in Lakeview Gardens near Whitehaven proposed to continue operating the school with a turnaround approach that includes recent changes to a block schedule for math and English plus focus on school leader and teacher development.

⋅Cornerstone Lester Prep: An ASD school in Binghampton part of the Capstone Education Group, the elementary school proposes to continue operations, which are closely tied to the charter group’s Lester middle school, which have included some of the top academic gains within the ASD.

⋅Coleman School: The ASD school in Raleigh, part of Journey Community Schools, proposes to continue operations for it’s K-8 students with an academic focus particularly on literacy and trauma-informed approaches to support students’ belonging to the school.

⋅Pathways in Education: Once an ASD school operator that closed, the group is seeking to open an alternative high school again in Whitehaven with a flexible school model for students at-risk of not graduating.

∙Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls: After a denied application last year, Grizzlies Prep seeks to open a middle school Downtown with a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math training for girls of color, typically underrepresented in these career fields professionally.

⋅Tennessee Career Academy: The vocational 6-12 school proposes to open in Midtown adjacent to the Medical District under a model that partners with local technical colleges and other post-secondary institutions to supply students with technical experience and credentials upon graduation.

⋅Empower Memphis Career and College Prep: The K-8 school proposes to serve students from Orange Mound and South Memphis to supply students with career development-focused education in early grades while closing the achievement gaps for students.

⋅Change Academy: Proposed as an all-boys high school for Westwood and Whitehaven, the school’s academic model is family-focused, with financial literacy programs and vocational programming that would pair students with a mentor.

Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Charter schools MSCS What would they offer