2 Memphis charter schools scheduled for permanent closure sue MSCS, seek injunction

Two Memphis charter schools scheduled for permanent closure at the end of this school year have filed a lawsuit against Memphis-Shelby County Schools, alleging the district is using incomplete testing data to justify the proposed closures.

Granville T. Woods Academy of Innovation and Memphis Delta Preparatory Charter School, both MSCS charter schools, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Shelby County Chancery Court. The suit requests an injunction to halt a closure vote from the school board. The court docket did not reflect a hearing or ruling by a judge as of Tuesday afternoon.

The district has recommended the board vote to close the two schools in order for the district to be in compliance with Tennessee law. The MSCS school board was scheduled to vote on the closure of the two schools during a board meeting Tuesday night, and the decision of the board cannot be reversed through appeal.

Interim Superintendent Toni Williams pulled the closure votes from the agenda at the start of Tuesday's meeting.

State law requires revocation of charter schools that fail to meet certain academic achievement criteria. Charter schools deemed "priority schools" by the state of Tennessee are among the bottom 5% of schools academically. If a charter school is a priority school twice, the schools should close, the law states.

But the recent priority list, the charter schools argue, was created with incomplete data. Closing a school due to this list would be a violation of state law, attorneys J. Bennett Fox, Jr. and John D. Woods III argue to the court.

The implications of the law are far-reaching and interpretation of the law is complicated by both state testing rules during COVID-19 and when and how the law applies to charter schools in the Achievement School District.

In emails with The Commercial Appeal over the past month, the Tennessee Department of Education has said the law must be read in conjunction with state law creating the ASD, the state-run school district that took over schools on the priority list, most of which were in Memphis, and doled them out to charter operators.

The state department did not respond to an inquiry from The Commercial Appeal in late November asking why the state is using this year's priority list to implement the law, rather than using next year's priority list, which will include the traditional set of three years of data, to implement the closure law.

More:TDOE: No Tennessee schools slated for state takeover this year

Earlier this year, the state department said it would not use the priority list to take over schools into the ASD, and that a new priority list would be created next year. In October, the department told The Commercial Appeal Granville T. Woods and Memphis Delta Prep could be eligible for closure based on their appearances on two priority lists.

"In short and plain terms: even though Tennessee statute, the TNDOE Accountability Protocol, in addition to Tennessee's federally approved ESSA plan, all require three years of assessment data, the TNDOE issue the most recent priority identification based on an accountability cycle that only used two years of data, 2019 and 2022, over a four-year period," the schools allege in court documents.

"This is patently contrary to Tennessee law and TNDOE policy, and was made known to Memphis-Shelby County Schools at the time it was released," attorneys for the schools continued.

The closure decision would be "immediate and devastating," attorneys argue, seeking the injunction.

"A vote of revocation is essentially the death knell for a charter school. It creates instability and uncertainty for the school's staff and teachers, who may leave and thus, prevents the school from serving its students," the attorneys argue.

While MSCS initially planned to vote Tuesday evening to close Freedom Preparatory Academy's Westwood Elementary Schools, the state department recently told MSCS the school was not eligible for closure under the revocation law.

Tuesday evening's agenda did not include a revocation vote the school, which was recently in the ASD; the revocation decision was pulled from the board agenda in last week's work session as the district told board members it had received updated guidance from the state.

Representatives for the two charter schools did not immediately respond to requests from comment from The Commercial Appeal.

"Memphis-Shelby County Schools will work cooperatively with all parties to make the best decision for families and students," the district said in a statement to The Commercial Appeal Tuesday evening.

Also on Tuesday evening's board agenda are board votes on four other charter schools. The schools, which each appeared on this year's priority list, are up for closure, but at the discretion of the board. State law does not require districts to close charter schools that have been on the priority list once, but provides school districts with the open to close them.

During hearings with the four charter schools Monday afternoon, MSCS board chair Althea Greene indicated she was not planning to vote to close those four schools.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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: Two charter schools sue MSCS to stop closure