As Wake schools end ties with St. Aug’s, leadership academy students are in limbo

Families at Wake County’s leadership academies are demanding that the school system find a new four-year college partner for this fall to replace St. Augustine’s University.

Citing St. Aug’s accreditation issues, the Wake County school board voted Tuesday to end an agreement where leadership academy students take free college courses at the university.

The students will finish out the school year at St. Aug’s but will take college courses next school year at Wake Technical Community College. Wake will look for a new four-year college partner, not for next year but for the 2025-26 school year.

“We deserve to be in a program that we signed up for with the only adequate solution to the devastating issue being a partnership with a four-year university by the fall — not a scrapped together solution of what we were once promised,” Gabriella Titus, a women’s leadership academy student, told the school board during Tuesday’s public comment session.

Wake, though, says there’s not enough time to get the necessary approvals to have a new four-year college partner in place for this fall.

Promise of free college credit

The Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy opened in Raleigh in 2012, serving middle school and high school students. The academies are also early colleges, meaning students take tuition-free college courses with a partner institution of higher learning.

Wake has received state funding to partner with St. Aug’s under North Carolina’s Cooperative Innovative High Schools program.

It’s a major commitment for the students, who take most of their high school courses in their first two years so they can spend their junior and senior years focusing on college classes.

“These kids were willing to go above and beyond with rigorous and accelerated classes for the promise of attending a four-year college,” April Miller, the parent of a women’s leadership academy student, told the school board on Tuesday. “They kept their end of the deal. They worked their tails off.”

St. Aug’s accreditation concerns

The future of the program was thrown into doubt in December when St. Augustine’s accreditation agency voted to revoke the university’s status. Accreditation is important for ensuring that the college credit will be accepted by other universities and colleges.

The district had announced in late January that it would continue its longstanding relationship for the rest of the school year with the small historically Black university. But since then, St. Aug’s lost its accreditation appeal.

St. Aug’s remains accredited while it goes through the arbitration process.

“While we are disappointed because we will miss the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy (WYMLA) and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy (WYWLA) students on our campus, we also understand the gravity of the moment,” Marcus Burgess, St. Aug’s interim president, said in a statement Wednesday. “We fully support the decision of WCPSS Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor and the WCPSS Board of Education.

“We look forward to the day we can invite the early college students back to SAU with open arms.”

Wake school leaders held a virtual meeting with leadership academy families on Wednesday.

Parents raised concerns such as whether students can take the same classes at Wake Tech that they had planned on at St. Aug’s. Parents also questioned whether the Wake Tech credits will be transferable to schools outside the UNC System or outside of the state.

Students may also wind up taking courses at Wake Tech’s Northern Wake Campus, which is significantly further away than St. Aug’s from the leadership academy’s downtown Raleigh campuses.

Plea for expedited action

Entering into a new cooperative innovative high school agreement this fall with another four-year university would require expedited approval from several different groups, including the state Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Education and the General Assembly.

“I don’t want to see the Department of Public Instruction or the district or the North Carolina General Assembly hiding behind the process,” Rob Gibson, the parent of a men’s leadership academy student, said in an interview Wednesday. “There are families that are impacted.

“My expectation is these people will adjust processes to serve the families in the community.”

Gibson’s expectations were echoed by parents and students who spoke at the school board meeting.

“We are pleading with you to fight for us to fix the problem that never had to exist in the first place and please try to expedite this process,” Blair Miller, a women’s leadership academy student, told the board. “We begin our senior year in five months. We are begging you to use this time more effectively than the last 14.”

But it’s not looking likely the state will accelerate any request. The state board approved the new group of early college high schools earlier this month.

“We would need to follow the process that is spelled out in legislation for approval of any ‘new’ Cooperative Innovative High Schools,” Blair Rhoades, a DPI spokesperson, said in an e-mail Wednesday. “NCDPI has provided WCPSS with another option that can fulfill the academic needs of the students for the next year, while they apply for another Cooperative Innovative High School status.”

Can Wake earn back trust?

Taylor told the school board that while the plan is to seek state approval for a new cooperative innovative high school agreement starting in the 2025-26 school year, officials will continue to focus on providing the best possible educational experience for all students.

“We know that this has been a stressful time for students, for faculty, for staff,” Taylor said at the board meeting. “But I want to assure everyone that we’ve been in a constant mode of trying to determine what is the best course of action for our students.”

But the district’s arguments are wearing thin now for some students and parents.

“The trust of us students and our community is in the air, and it is up to you all the board to prove us wrong and to earn back that trust,” said Iman Nazir, a women’s leadership academy student.