I Promise supporters accuse Akron school board of 'bullying' for review of academic data

Jennifer Pignolet, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·5 min read
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Representatives and supporters of the I Promise School and the LeBron James Family Foundation harshly criticized the Akron Public Schools board Monday night a month after the board publicly reviewed the school's academic results going into the school's sixth year of operation.

Victoria McGee, director of the I Promise Family Resource Center, addresses the Akron School Board at packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.
Victoria McGee, director of the I Promise Family Resource Center, addresses the Akron School Board at packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.

Eight people spoke during public comment, including Victoria McGee, senior director for the LeBron James Family Foundation and the I Promise School Family Resource Center, who likened the board's discussion to "bullying" and an intentional, personal attack on the school that "further marginalize already disadvantaged students."

"Your actions degraded every Akron Public Schools educator that has ever taught the current and past I Promise students that you have singled out locally and nationally," McGee said. "Absolutely, it was hurtful to the LeBron James Family Foundation, but more importantly, detrimental to our students."

The foundation's executive director, Michele Campbell, was in the audience but did not speak. The foundation issued a statement following the meeting, saying, "We appreciate our community and family members having the passion to come here and advocate for their students and families."

During the meeting, Board President Derrick Hall pushed back on the comments, saying nothing the board had said or done could be construed as bullying.

"If you go back and you actually watch the board meeting, nobody on this board, no speaker or presenter made any comments that any rational person would call belittling, bullying or anything of that nature," Hall said, adding "there's a distinction between what the board says, and how folks take what we say and craft their own self-serving narratives."

The board was slated Monday night to hear the second part of a presentation from district administrators about the academic data of students in the I Promise School, but staff illness delayed the presentation until the board's next meeting.

The district created the school in partnership with the foundation to serve Akron's most vulnerable children. To get into the school, kids have to test in the bottom 25% of reading scores in the district by the end of second grade. No other school in the country appears to have a similar model of isolating low-performing students in a separate building so early in their educational journeys.

The foundation provides extensive support for students and their families, including meeting basic needs like housing and food, as well as job training and high school equivalency classes for parents. The foundation has paid for additional tutors and teachers in the school as well, with up to $1.4 million annually of in-school supports.

But Akron Public Schools, Hall said Monday night, is tasked with making sure the school is doing its job in educating students, and the board is seeking only to determine if the district is holding up its end of the deal. The model for the school, he said, may need to be tweaked, as it has once already. The district last year limited the number of incoming students in third grade, the first year of the school, who have a disability.

Akron Public Schools superintendent Michael Robinson, left school board president Derrick Hall, center, listen with the rest of the school board and staff to supporters of the I Promise School address the board during a meeting in Akron.
Akron Public Schools superintendent Michael Robinson, left school board president Derrick Hall, center, listen with the rest of the school board and staff to supporters of the I Promise School address the board during a meeting in Akron.

Hall also said I Promise would not be the only school under a microscope, as the board wants to be more transparent about how all its schools are doing. He did not publicly identify others that would have similar presentations made about them, but the state recently issued designations that bring additional scrutiny. Both Garfield and David Hill community learning centers earned concerning designations for low performance and could be the subject of future board discussions.

But since the board's initial conversation about I Promise July 24, "LeBron's school" has been a target of national media, in particular conservative news sites, that have called it a failure as a result of its poor test scores.

The deeper story is more complicated, with COVID-19 and leadership and teacher turnover at the school creating challenges, as well as the fact that any new venture is likely to need time to find its footing. But the board still expressed deep concern over data that showed students in other schools in Akron who qualified to get into I Promise are in some cases doing at least as well, if not better, than students in I Promise, despite the additional resources at the school.

In the weeks that followed, some in the community have expressed frustration that the board's discussion wasn't explained up front for what it was, or was done in a harsh way that brought unneeded and unwarranted criticism on students and staff at the school.

About 40 people came to the meeting Monday in support of the school, with about a dozen signing up to speak, but the board typically only allows 20 minutes of public comment per meeting, so only eight were granted time.

I Promise parent Janette Brown said her son started at the school "in a shell."

Janette Brown, a parent with a child at I Promise, talks in support of the school at meeting packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.
Janette Brown, a parent with a child at I Promise, talks in support of the school at meeting packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.

"He was quiet, withdrawn," she said. "He has since become a leader for his peers. He is an honor roll student. He advocates for other peers."

Brown said she felt like the discussion and the narrative that had come out of it had pushed students like her son further behind.

The foundation also received support from an attorney who helps with legal issues families may have and a LeBron James Family Foundation adviser who was formally a special adviser to the United Nations.

Annette Richardson, an advisor to the LeBron James Family Foundation, addresses the Akron School Board at packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.
Annette Richardson, an advisor to the LeBron James Family Foundation, addresses the Akron School Board at packed with supporters of the I Promise School in Akron.

The attorney, Ayesha Cotton, spoke about the foundation's mission to wrap its arms around students and families who need additional support.

The adviser, Annette Richardson, said she flew into town for the meeting to defend what she sees as a uniquely successful public-private partnership.

Doug Petkovic, a restaurant owner who said he consults with the foundation, said he wasn't an expert in education but had seen firsthand the efforts of the foundation to impact kids.

"In my world, I've never seen an organization and people that care more for the people that they take care of, in this organization," he said. "It's pretty special."

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: I Promise supporters vouch for the school as APS board reviews academics