I Promise School, Akron Public Schools reaffirm mutual support in a new year

I Promise School and the LeBron James Family Foundation leaders are hoping to turn a new leaf with Akron Public Schools and its board of education after a tumultuous year in 2023.

LeBron James Family Foundation Executive Director Michele Campbell reaffirmed her support of the school district during a breakfast and public meeting Monday morning at House Three Thirty in the hopes of putting previous tensions behind them.

December meetings: Head of LeBron James Family Foundation scolds Akron school board for 'painful' year

"It's important that we introduce ourselves to the new school board members after an election and show our support for the board," Campbell said after the meeting.

Superintendent Michael Robinson echoed these comments, hoping to move beyond the criticisms and questions regarding the performance of students at the I Promise School, a partnership between Akron Public Schools and the foundation.

"We want to be as supportive as possible," Robinson said. "Those are our kids, yours and ours."

New Akron school board member Summer Hall has family members who were involved with the I Promise School. The school, she said, has changed their lives.

"I commend you for what you do," Hall said during the meeting. "You're doing so much for the community."

First meeting in 2024

This was the first meeting between the school board and I Promise School officials in the new year.

Some school board members questioned the I Promise School last year after statistics showed that a recent class of eighth grade students had not passed the state's math test since they were in third grade.

Promises kept? Akron school board questions I Promise School's poor test scores

The school enrolls students in third grade through a lottery. Students can enter the lottery if they are in the bottom 25% of reading scores in the district.

The public school opened in 2018 and serves more than 300 students in grades three through eight. It includes resources for students. The foundation aims to open a medical center in May, which can be used by the local community, including students.

The goal of the school is to serve as an intervention for the district's lowest-performing students starting at an early age. It is a rare — if not unprecedented — model in education nationwide.

The foundation and the school board sparred in December after Campbell accused then school board President Derrick Hall of failing to acknowledge an email sent in July and of leading the board into an unfairly conducted examination of the school's performance.

At the time, she said many I Promise supporters signed up to speak at board meetings but were not given the chance to do so.

In December, Hall said he had a productive, offline 45-minute conversation where he explained why he did not respond to the email.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: I Promise School, Akron Public Schools reaffirm support in a new year