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

As Achievement School District schools continue to peel out of the state-run turnaround district, there's another first: Westside Middle School will return to Memphis-Shelby County Schools in 2023 as a charter school, more than a decade after Tennessee state officials took over and removed it from the district.

Westside's charter application received the lone approval from MSCS board members Tuesday evening, in a 7-0 vote against the recommendation from district officials to deny the school's application.

Four ASD schools have been returned to the district and will open as three schools this fall. But those schools were directly run by the ASD, and not charters. Most of the schools in the district are charters in Memphis: three will be part of the state charter commission, and three other ASD charters in Memphis closed at the end of their contracts this year.

Read this: Tennessee's ASD Superintendent Settle departing as turnaround district loses school, staff

Previous coverage: In a first, three Memphis schools to exit ASD, join state's charter commission

It's unclear whether the board's vote to accept Westside will set any kind of precedent for the remaining Memphis charter schools in the ASD. The final operating year for current Memphis ASD schools is 2025-26.

The board heard applications for three other new charters Tuesday and denied them.

The board voted 7-0 each time with the district's recommendations to deny applications for Binghampton Community School, Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls, and the Tennessee Volunteer Military Academy.

Operators for those three schools can appeal the decision to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission within the next ten calendar days. The commission then has 75 days to hold a public hearing and make a decision. The school could become authorized by the state commission, or, if all parties agree in a 30-day window, the school could operate under MSCS, explained Brittany Monda, the assistant superintendent of charter schools for the district.

Westside 'cornerstone of community' board member says in vote

As for Westside, school leaders are excited to be accepted back to MSCS. The middle school was directly run by the state until fall 2018. State leaders admitted failure in their efforts to turn the school's academic record around, and kept the school within the ASD but passed control to Frayser Community Schools, making the school a charter school like most other ASD schools.

The founder and CEO of the local charter network, Bobby White, is a former Westside principal when the middle school was part of Memphis City Schools.

"We are excited to continue serving the students and families of Frayser," FCS told The Commercial Appeal by email Tuesday. "As an organization rooted in the community, we will always seek input from our families to ensure we provide our students with the exceptional educational experience they deserve."

"We thank the Memphis-Shelby County School Board for allowing us to continue this work at Westside Middle School," the charter network's statement concluded.

In a first round of votes back in April, the school board voted with the district's recommendation then to deny all four of the proposed charter applications, but again discussed Westside as an outlier.

"It's delayed not denied," Superintendent Joris Ray told board members at the time.

TCAP: For state's lowest-performing schools in ASD, most remain behind as district shrinks

Previously: Tennessee continuing ASD 2.0 for turnaround in 'a smaller footprint'

In recent committee meetings, board members have asked what kind of feedback the district provided to Westside's application in particular, which was brought back to the board in the amended and final iteration as a recommended denial.

Calling Westside a "cornerstone of community," board member Miska Clay Bibbs said Tuesday, "We need to be very clear on that fact that this will be the first one," a reference to the school being the first ASD school returning as a charter.

There could be a seamless path forward for the school to integrate back into the district, but it will likely require a great deal of community outreach. Under the ASD, the school is a neighborhood school, with students zoned to attend. MSCS-authorized charter schools are not zoned, but could still focus on soliciting and accepting applications from families in the neighborhood.

"We intend to continue serving the same population of students, in the same facility,

in the same community," FCS said it its initial charter application.

In its recommendation to deny, the district noted potential issues with Westside's academic plan and its recruitment strategies, as well as its contingency for a facility if it does not continue its agreement with MSCS for the building.

What are the three schools the board denied?

Below are summaries of the new charter applicants the board denied.

Binghampton Community School proposed to be a K-5 school of 360 students housed within a proposed development at 3100 Walnut Grove, sponsored by Maslow Development Inc. The school proposed to have an International Baccalaureate program, but MSCS said it didn't have a sufficient plan to train teachers in the program or a plan for special populations of students.

Memphis Grizzlies Preparatory STEAM School for Girls proposed to be a 6-8 school of 525 students operating Downtown. MSCS said the school's application included a contingency upon a state STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) designation and lacked a chosen STEAM curriculum.

Tennessee Volunteer Military Academy proposed to be a 6-12 school of 800 students in Cordova. MSCS said the amended application neglected to respond to several questions about how the school would serve English language learning students and students with disabilities, and the school lacked a clear plan for its facility.

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: Westside Middle becomes first ASD charter to return to MSCS