State board vote could close Sovereign Community School in six months

An Oklahoma City charter school is on a path toward closure after four years of financial and academic disarray.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted 4-1 on Thursday in favor of issuing a notice of termination to Sovereign Community School. The Indigenous-focused charter school educates 109 students in fifth through 12th grade at 12600 N Kelley.

This doesn't mean the school will shut down right away, if at all. Epic Charter Schools faced similar termination proceedings in 2021 with a different state board and reached a settlement in lieu of a closure.

State officials say Sovereign has had abysmal academic results and remains hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt despite receiving a $150,000 donation in the past month. The school has been on probation with the Oklahoma State Department of Education for more than three years, and the agency has recommended termination proceedings twice before.

"At some point, the reputation of the department and this board starts to come into question," board member Trent Smith said while making a motion to begin the termination process. "It's like are they only giving incredible leniency to this school because it's a charter when they haven't had that leniency for public schools?"

The state Board of Education is the charter authorizer for Sovereign, meaning the charter contract between the board and the school is what allows Sovereign to exist. Terminating that contract would effectively shut down the school or force it to seek out another charter authorizer.

Sovereign has been in a financial shortfall since it opened in 2019. School officials vastly overestimated how many students would enroll in Year One and therefore didn't have enough revenue to maintain all the staff they had hired. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the school's financial woes and caused deeper debt.

Sovereign's school board president, Kendra Wilson-Clements, said the school wasn't set up properly at that time.

"We had no business, honestly, operating or starting up school," Wilson-Clements said. "Aside from not having enough money in the bank, we did not have the right leadership in place."

The state board began the process to potentially close Sovereign on June 30, but the school will have the opportunity to present its case in a hearing before the termination date. The state Education Department's new general counsel, Bryan Cleveland, recommended the hearing take place after the school year ends.

New board member Donald Burdick cast the lone vote against termination. Burdick suggested waiting 30 more days before starting the proceedings.

This could give Sovereign's leadership time for a turnaround, but school officials said their chances are doubtful because of the termination threat.

"Our kids will drop out, we will not be able to recruit, I will not fundraise," Wilson-Clements said. "It will be done."

Wilson-Clements' consulting firm, We The People, gave the $150,000 donation to Sovereign to help cover debts. She said she has been in talks with tribal nations over potential donations and with two of the school's lenders to extend return payment on existing loans.

An on-site visit on Monday by Education Department staff found the new head of school, Allison Black, keeps a better-organized filing system than previous school leaders, but Sovereign still had a lack of documentation to verify its finances and student attendance, according to a memo from the agency's general counsel.

Under Black's tenure, which began Dec. 12, students are spending more time learning from a teacher than an online curriculum, and no more than two grades share the same class, according to a record of the site visit.

More coverage: State Board of Education kept Sovereign open based on 'hopes, dreams and promises'

But, the school has a steep hill to climb. Fewer than 15% of Sovereign students scored on grade level in reading, math and science in 2022 state tests, and teacher turnover has been frequent.

Education Department staff advised the board to begin termination proceedings in April 2021, but the state board declined. Agency staff and former state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister recommended termination again in December.

The board tabled the vote to January, effectively punting the decision to new state Superintendent Ryan Walters, who took office this month, and Gov. Kevin Stitt's new board appointees. Only two previous board members remain, Smith and Sarah Lepak.

"The way that I see it is I'm a huge proponent — I know we all are — of high-performing charter schools," Walters said. "Sovereign is not a high-performing charter school. There's no way to mince words on that."

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Indigenous OKC charter school at risk to close in six months