Supporters and administrators of Akron’s “I Promise” school, sponsored by NBA star LeBron James, are accusing the Akron School board of “bullying” them by publicly revealing the school’s rock-bottom testing scores in math, reading, and other subjects.
Ahead of the 2023 school year, the Akron School Board spoke of its alarm over the fact that the four-year-old school has not had a single 8th-grade student pass the state’s math test. And the special school’s other metrics are equally as bad.
But at an Aug. 28 school board meeting, representatives of the I Promise school blasted the district and board for “bullying” school administrators and alleging that the public criticism can only “further marginalize already disadvantaged students,” the Akron Beacon reported.
New school signage is seen at the grand opening of the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
“Your actions degraded every Akron Public Schools educator that has ever taught the current and past I Promise students that you have singled out locally and nationally,” said the school’s Senior Director, Victoria McGee. “Absolutely, it was hurtful to the LeBron James Family Foundation, but more importantly, detrimental to our students.”
Board President Derrick Hall, though, pushed back on that characterization of their concerns over student performance at the school.
“If you go back and you actually watch the board meeting, nobody on this board, no speaker or presenter made any comments that any rational person would call belittling, bullying or anything of that nature, there’s a distinction between what the board says, and how folks take what we say and craft their own self-serving narratives,” Hall said.
Large inspirational murals at the I Promise school on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The new school is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools. (Allison Farrand/NBAE via Getty Images)
Board President Hall also added that the I Promise school is not the only one being given serious scrutiny. He said all of Akron’s schools are undergoing a review, not just James’ school.
The LeBron James school has been stung by the national headlines saying that none of its students have passed state-mandated testing. The Ohio Department of Education also pointed out that black students and those with disabilities at the I Promise school are testing in the bottom five percent in the state, all despite the promises that James made when he launched the school to great fanfare back in 2018.
For its part, the LeBron James foundation that runs the school tried to blame the pandemic, at least in part, for its three years running of low test scores.
The school, though, seems to be failing its students miserably all across the board, especially in math. WKYC-TV noted that none of the I Promise school’s grade levels have no more than a 1 percent proficiency in math, whereas even the low-rated Akron city schools — some of the worst in the state — have achieved at least a 17.6 percent math proficiency level.
LeBron James makes his way through the crowd during the I Promise School opening ceremonies on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
To thwart the criticism, I Promise school officials brought a large group of supporters to the Aug. 28 meeting, and all praised the school for helping children who were difficult to reach in other schools. Parents, teachers, and even a restaurant owner all said the school is doing a great job with the school’s children.
Regardless, both the Akron School Board and Ohio education officials have all said they are working to pour more tax dollars and state resources into the I Promise school in an effort to at least bring the school’s students up to the same levels — as low as those levels are — as students in the city’s other public schools.
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