Michele Campbell, the head of NBA star LeBron James’ much ballyhooed “I Promise” school in Akron, lashed out at the city school board’s final meeting for 2023 for criticizing her school after revelations that not a single 8th-grade student had proficiency in math in all three years of the school’s existence.
Campbell, executive director of The LeBron James Family Foundation, railed at the school board for “breaking trust” with the foundation and unfairly accusing I Promise of failing students. She also blasted Akron Board of Education President Derrick Hall for refusing to answer an email she sent to him.
“My email received no response. We all know what happened next,” Campbell said during the meeting.
“At a very painful time, trust was broken. As I watched, countless others speak freely at board meetings without a shot clock closing in on them. Our supporters signed up to speak but were not granted the opportunity to do so … our parents, supporters, and team members were cut off and not allowed to have their full voices heard,” she said accusingly.
“We would love nothing more to work hand-in-hand,” Campbell exclaimed. “With the new board in this effort, it is bigger than any one of us alone, and all we ask is that we’re given the same respect that so many others are given.
“We promise we will continue to be good partners and to do everything in our power to help our students and families be successful — and we keep our promises,” she said.
A collection of LeBron James shoes decorate the entrance to the I Promise School on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The School is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and the Akron Public School and is designed to serve Akron’s most challenged students. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
In his reply during the meeting, Hall pointed out that he had a private conversation with Campbell about the email and thought that they had reached an understanding on the matter. But Campbell wanted to make an issue about the situation.
“You and I had an offline conversation where I explained why I did not reply to that e-mail, and so I’m not going to rehash all that here tonight,” Hall said. “I would like to say we spent about a 45-minute conversation talking about the delay in responding, and I thought we had a productive conversation.”
The conflict began in July when news broke that James’ famed school had not succeeded in doing much actual educating of its students since launching in 2018.
The shocking report sent the Akron School Board to make plans to put James’ school under closer scrutiny. The board also made plans to spend more state and district money to improve the school’s proficiency rate throughout the curriculum.
A general view of the entrance to the I Promise School on July 30, 2018, in Akron, Ohio. The School is a partnership between the LeBron James Family Foundation and the Akron Public School and is designed to serve Akron’s most challenged students. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
In July, Yahoo News reported that “Two of I Promise’s biggest subgroups of students, Black students and those with disabilities, are now testing in the bottom 5% in the state, landing the school on the Ohio Department of Education’s list of those requiring targeted intervention.”
Board President Hall said he was “disappointed” by the school’s serious deficits.
“For me, as a board member, I just think about all the resources that we’re providing,” Hall said. “And I just, I’m just disappointed that I don’t think, it doesn’t appear like we’re seeing the kind of change that we would expect to see.’
For its part, James’ foundation blamed COVID in part for the school’s poor performance.
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