MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After concerned parents reached out to Shelby County Schools about the under-performing Southwest Early College High School, the school district is recommending the charter school be shut down.
Parents asked SCS to close down the school by revoking its charter during a board meeting Tuesday night, and district officials said they would review the complaints.
On Wednesday, the district announced in the following statement that they were in agreement with the concerned parents.
“Today, the District’s Office of Charter Schools sent a letter to the administration of Southwest Early College High charter school to inform them that we are recommending revocation of the school’s charter. The recommendation to revoke the charter of Southwest is based on an investigation into complaints from students and parents by our Office of Charter Schools and General Counsel. No decisions have been made at this time. Our Board will vote on the revocation during their October Business Meeting. By law, we are required to provide 30 days notice to schools, prior to a Board vote. Families also received information directly from the District this afternoon. Additionally, over the past few weeks, we have heard from many parents who have reached out to learn about school options with SCS. To better inform families of this process and their school options with SCS, we will be holding information sessions on October 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the Board of Education and on October 5 at 10 a.m. at the Teaching & Learning Academy (2485 Union).”
As the statement says, there will be no immediate action to close the school.
WREG asked the charter school’s administration if they had anything to say about parents’ concerns, but we have not heard back.
Southwest Early College High School boasted an offer of an associate’s degree upon completion of high school, but parents know their children can’t get an associate’s degree from the school without even getting their high school diploma.
Artesian Schools, which runs the charter school, said they would be challenging the recommendation with the below statement.
“We are challenging this recommendation and have retained an attorney to handle. As we have mentioned previously, we are in full compliance with Shelby County Schools and have submitted all documents that were requested.”