After coming up empty-handed in the search for a new operator, Tennessee’s turnaround district will close its first school at the end of this school year, leaders announced Monday night.
Officials with the Achievement School District previously had said that Klondike Preparatory Academy Elementary might close this year, but made it official during a meeting with about 60 Klondike parents, teachers and stakeholders.
The students will be reassigned to Vollentine Elementary, which is less than a mile away and operated by Shelby County Schools. The state took over Klondike from the local district in 2012 due to low performance.
“The reality is this: Our babies deserve to go to a close-by school and stay in the neighborhood,” ASD Superintendent Malika Anderson told the crowd. “They deserve to go to higher-performing school,” she added, noting that she worked with SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson to find a higher-performing school for Klondike’s students.
The impending closure is a blow to the state-run district, which has taken over 24 low-performing schools in Memphis since the state legislature created the ASD in 2010 as a mechanism to turn those schools around. The ASD now faces the closure this spring of up to three schools after two of its charter networks announced plans last fall to pull out or scale back their work with the state district.
KIPP Memphis, which is part of a national network, announced in December that it also will pull out of one of its four ASD schools, while Memphis-based Gestalt Community Schools plans to exit both of its ASD schools. Both operators cited under-enrollment. ASD leaders have not announced a final decision about the future of KIPP’s Memphis University Middle School, while Memphis-based Frayser Community Schools has applied to operate Gestalt’s Humes Preparatory Academy Middle.
The state-run district’s relationship with Shelby County Schools has been mostly combative in recent years as the ASD has steadily expanded and siphoned off both students and funding from the local district. But Anderson told parents Monday that the ASD is collaborating with SCS leaders to support Klondike students in the transition ahead, and that the local district will provide bus transportation to Vollentine.
Shelby County Schools, which also has struggled with under-enrollment, now stands to gain students in the transition. Vollentine currently has 258 students and Klondike has 194. Both buildings are designed for more than 500 students.
“There are too many schools for the number of students we have in this county,” Anderson said in response to questions about recent school closures in North Memphis. “What we can do is not be surprised about it. What we can do is make sure we plan for the future. … That’s exactly what the ASD and SCS are engaged in.”
To give parents a choice, the ASD worked with the Memphis School Guide to provide families with a list of up to 13 SCS and ASD schools available to attend. Anderson said Memphis Lift, a parent advocacy group that promotes school choice, is available to provide one-on-one counseling for families needing help.
ASD leaders fielded questions from the crowd about the process for deciding to close the school.
“Why weren’t families engaged more?” asked Klondike Principal Jennifer Islom. “We had an initial meeting, and parents got emails sent to them, but no other committee was created.”
Anderson said seven current ASD operators, including the ASD’s own network, were eligible to apply, but none did.
“We did our due diligence in looking at the finances and honestly we could not make it work,” she said of the decision by the ASD’s Achievement Schools not to apply. “We couldn’t provide a breadth of services here with the number of students available. Instead of providing a subpar experience, we will work with SCS, and find out how we combine these communities.”