KIPP Memphis, which closed two of its schools in 2020, faces two more potential closures

KIPP Memphis, one of the longest standing charter operators in Memphis and Tennessee, is facing two school closures as its authorizer, Shelby County Schools, is recommending to not renew the charter contracts.

Should the SCS board vote to approve the recommendation and not renew the charters, the charter operator would have to close KIPP Memphis Collegiate Elementary and KIPP Memphis Academy Middle at the end of their school years, a move that would impact about 550 students and more than 50 teachers.

The closures would bring the local network, which began 2020 with seven schools, down to three.

Convincing the school board to renew the charters for the two schools would be a major win for KIPP's new executive director, Antonio Burt, who is about two months into implementing the turnaround strategies he was known for during his recent tenure with SCS, where he was most recently chief academic officer and chief of schools.

Burt has adopted a "big risk, big reward" strategy in the role, following in the footsteps of an executive director who was criticized for staffing decisions and for the local board's decision to abruptly close its two charter schools in South Memphis at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

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Familiar with the district, Burt was critical of some of the district's charter policies in Tuesday afternoon's hearing, recommending more regular communication through a school improvement plan.

SCS is recommending the schools close for academic performances, Angela Whitelaw, deputy superintendent of academics and Brittany Monda, the assistant superintendent of charter schools, explained. Although students took state testing last year, across the state the results weren't used in punitive measures, so the most recent data reviewed for the KIPP schools is from the 2018-19 school year.

Middle students saw losses in math and were stagnant in reading, and elementary school students saw some gains in math but suffered losses in reading performance, when reviewing three years of data, the district said.

While the middle school has seen growth, its achievement and climate scores brought the total score to a 2.77, below the desired 3.0 score. While the elementary school had a higher climate score, its achievement and growth scores brought the total to 2.61, also below 3.0. For both schools, the operations and finances scores were above 4.0.

For KIPP, Burt began the presentation noting that the two schools enroll a higher share of economically disadvantaged students (86% at the elementary school and 78% at the middle school) compared to SCS as whole (55.6% as of 2019-20 state data).

While the school is below the desired academic score, he noted they weren't on an action plan with the district, and suggested more checkpoints. When board member Stephanie Love later inquired about an action plan, Monda explained that a lapse between new board policy approved in August 2019 — a sweeping overhaul made in response to what some operators alleged was varying application of the policy, Chalkbeat reported — and its implementation was the reason.

"In our office now for all of our scorecards, when we have that actual accountability data, even if a school is scoring between a 2 or 3 (in the framework), we do provide a deficiency notice," Monda said, explaining that school leaders could then explain those lapses in annual reports.

In his presentation, Burt explained that though there was a lack of an action plan with the district, KIPP had created its own for each of the schools "to ensure that we're not in the same position, if granted the opportunity in the future years."

The charter operator, at the start of the school year, purchased the school buildings it had previously rented from the district, which house the elementary school and the middle schools that could close (as well as other KIPP students). The purchase also requires an approval process, Burt pointed out, and argued that a purchase shows the charter is committed to North Memphis.

"I would really like to give them an opportunity to prove themselves," board member Althea Greene said, noting the consideration of the building purchases and Burt's new leadership. "No doubt sitting in front of us is a very capable leader. I'm happy to see him, because I believe that the work can be done."

Closure would impact 550 students, more than 50 teachers

If KIPP Memphis Collegiate Elementary were to close, its 324 students would go to new schools. About half, 166, would go to district schools that have higher scores than the elementary school on a district framework that measures academics, growth, college and career readiness and climate.

Among the other half, 59 students would go to schools with lower scores, and another 97 would go to schools in the Achievement School District or other districts, for which SCS doesn't have scores.

Burt argued that, given historical performance by ASD schools, it's possible that many of those 97 students would attend schools that have lower academic scores.

The closure would impact 28 teachers. In its report, SCS wrote that it had more than 30 vacancies for elementary school teachers.

If KIPP Memphis Academy Middle were to close, its 227 students would attend new schools. A little more than half, or 109, would be zoned to schools with lower scores, by the district's framework. There would be 88 students headed to schools with higher scores, and 30 would be zoned to schools outside the SCS district, again including the ASD.

The closure would impact 27 teachers. SCS said it has about 20 middle school teacher vacancies, but teachers from Memphis Academy of Health Sciences Middle, which the district voted to close last week, could be seeking positions, too. (An attorney for MAHS said the charter plans to appeal the two closures to the state, which could decide to keep the school open.)

One parent, a community member and a representative from Memphis Lift, a parent advocacy organization, spoke in support of the KIPP schools.

In addition to the two KIPP schools, Aurora Collegiate Academy Elementary School and Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School are also up for renewal. Based on the schools' scores in the district's framework, SCS has recommended the board vote to renew the charters for Aurora Collegiate and Grizzlies Prep.

The SCS board will hear public comments and vote on the charter renewals in its business meeting next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

If the board votes to close the schools and not renew the agreement, KIPP could appeal the decision to the state's charter commission.

Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: KIPP Memphis faces two potential school closures as former SCS leader takes helm