Proposed charter school Empower Memphis wins appeal after MSCS denial. When it plans opening

On Oct. 6, Muna Olaniyi sat in the Davy Crockett Tower in Nashville, nervously waiting for the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to decide the fate of her appeal.

She had spent more than a year and a half planning out the details for Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, a proposed K-8 charter school that would serve Orange Mound and South Memphis students. She was confident in its unique, career-oriented model, and her application had met or exceeded all the Tennessee Department of Education’s requirements.

But in mid-July, the Memphis-Shelby County School board had denied her application, citing oversaturation in its intended location, so she had appealed to the state’s charter school commission ― whose decision would be final.

The commission’s executive director, Tess Stovall, had given the school her stamp of approval, but the ultimate decision would be up to its commissioners. Empower Memphis was fifth on the agenda, and Olaniyi listened as they made decisions about other schools.

“It was very nerve-racking,” she said.

When they reached Empower Memphis, Olaniyi spoke about the school, as did Stovall. The commissioners discussed the matter. And in a unanimous decision, they decided to overturn the MSCS board’s denial, giving Empower Memphis the OK to move forward.

Thrilled, Olaniyi walked to her car and called Empower Memphis’ board and her family to relay the news. A victory hadn’t been guaranteed, as three existing local charter schools were also on the docket, and not all of them had won their appeals. While the commission had also overturned the MSCS board’s application denial for Cornerstone Lester Prep during the meeting, it had upheld the board’s denials for Fairley High School and Pathways of Education-Memphis.

“When I saw the unanimous vote, I was literally stunned,” Olaniyi said of Empower Memphis’ approval. “It was like an out-of-body experience… Just hearing the commentary really affirmed our belief about the school.”

Olaniyi, however, didn’t have time to rest on her laurels. With the appeal successful, she and her team are hoping to open Empower Memphis in the fall of 2024. Here’s what the school has planned ― and why Olaniyi thinks it could have a significant impact on local students.

Career exposure from an early age

Between her time as a teacher and administrator, Olaniyi has nearly 20 years of experience in education, and she’s a fellow with the program BES (Build.Excel.Sustain), which helps leaders in the field found schools.

Empower Memphis is career and technical education focused, which, in the elementary school sense, means it’s expected to provide programs and activities that introduce students to industries and career pathways at an early age. Olaniyi’s inspiration for the school stemmed from conversations she had with educators and students. Many adolescents and teenagers didn’t seem to have any idea what paths they’d be interested in pursuing after high school graduation.

“There were a large number of students who really could not say specifically, ‘Hey, I'm interested in engineering, or I would like to become a physician someday,’” she said.

A lot of these students also attended under-resourced schools and came from low-income families. They haven’t necessarily gotten exposure to potential career paths at home or in school, and this is exposure that Olaniyi wants Empower Memphis to provide.

“We have a lot of kids who are not seeing the purpose of going to school. So why not give them an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, education is, is really the stepping stone for you to be whatever you want to be,’” she said. “We want to make sure that the kids have access to those options.”

At Empower Memphis, each grade level in the K-8 school is set to focus on a different industry, and the professions within it. They'll learn about job requirements and the education requirements for those jobs. Kindergarten, for example, is expected to focus on transportation, with students learning what it takes to be a pilot and conductor.

The school, Olaniyi explained, will still focus on the typical grade school subjects. But the emphasis on careers and sectors is expected to be significant. By the time the students who start in kindergarten finish eighth grade and leave the school, they’ll have been exposed to around nine industries and 72 professions. Fifth and eighth graders are also set to have internships, to “really entrench them in learning about the different areas that we’ve identified.”

And it’s possible Empower Memphis parents will benefit from the school, in addition to students.

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“We met families and parents who said if they had this when they were growing up, they would have been in different places right now as an adult. Or, they too are struggling with figuring out what they want to do professionally,” she said. “So, we want to be able to support them in this process, which is also having access to resume writing classes for families, and interview skills for families.”

Before it can do this, however, Empower Memphis must successfully recruit students as a new charter school. In its first year, it plans to enroll 100 students: 50 kindergarteners, 25 first graders, and 25 second graders. And this brings us back to MSCS’ initial concern about oversaturation.

Will there be enough students?

Though it’s considering several options and hasn’t selected a building yet, Empower Memphis is planning to be located in the Orange Mound and South Memphis area, where, according to MSCS, there are already significantly more seats in schools than students.

And this is why the local school board, per its policy, denied Empower Memphis’ original application.

“Based on the MSCS footprint, there’s a lack of students in the proposed neighborhood,” wrote Brittany Monda, the district’s assistant superintendent of charter schools, in a letter to the commission that was read at the Oct. 6 meeting. “As an established authorizer we have seen on multiple occasions that initial enrollment for a school becomes a problem both to run the academic program that the application has committed to do, and financially, and many have yielded closure due to this.”

Stovall, the executive director of the Commission, while praising Empower Memphis, also acknowledged the oversaturation during the meeting.

“The issue of oversaturation where the school plans to locate is a real one, and this is something that I do acknowledge that Memphis-Shelby County (Schools) as a district is trying to get its hands around,” she said. “And I think you all as a commission… should consider this in your deliberations. We only want schools that are going to open high quality, and a part of that is meeting enrollment projections.”

Olaniyi isn’t wavered by the issue.

She sees a need for the school in the area, where the child poverty rates have often been high and many schools have underperformed. In her official recommendation, Stovall noted that nine of the 15 lowest-performing schools MSCS had identified were in the Orange Mound and South Memphis area.

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“There are no CTE schools in the area,” Olaniyi said. “We wanted to bring a unique model to the community. We have board members from Orange County and South Memphis who also recognize that need.”

The district also has an open enrollment policy, she explained, which means that the school can reach out to people in other areas as it monitors enrollment numbers, even though it’s primarily recruiting from Orange Mound and South Memphis.

During the Oct. 6 meeting, Olaniyi noted that the school has secured 98 intents to enroll from families. Its team is in promotion mode, engaging with people at daycares and community events. The group Tennesseans for Student Success has started sending out mailers to advertise the school, and Empower Memphis is poised to begin a marketing campaign.

“We're going to launch our marketing strategy, which includes social media and also on our website to really get kids and families excited about the school,” she said. “So, when it's time for the enrollment process, we'll be able to really have the numbers that we need.”

John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Proposed charter school Empower Memphis wins appeal, may open in 2024