LEAD Academy

Education

Problems continue for Montgomery’s first charter school

Montgomery’s first charter school remains a first-rate mess. As former LEAD Academy principal Nichole Ivey-Price prepares for another hearing in her ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit against the charter school, a number of current and former LEAD employees have told APR that the environment at the school remains one of near-chaos. Perhaps most surprising, the employees … Continued

Josh Moon

December 17, 2019

Judge orders charter school principal back on the payroll

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge on Friday ordered that a charter school resume the salary and benefits of a fired principal — at least until a ruling is issued in the principal’s wrongful termination lawsuit. Nicole Ivey-Price, who was fired from LEAD Academy in October, was granted a temporary restraining order by Judge Jimmy … Continued

Josh Moon

November 25, 2019

House District 74 voters go to the polls today

On Tuesday, voters go to the polls to select their state Representative in the House District 74 special election. The District is entirely in Montgomery County. The Republican nominee is former Montgomery School Board President Charlotte Meadows. The Democratic nominee is former Montgomery NAACP President Rayford Mack (D). Meadows won the Republican primary runoff election … Continued

Brandon Moseley

November 12, 2019

Opinion

Analysis | New lawsuit exposes troubling issues, possible criminal acts at LEAD Academy

The administration at LEAD Academy tried to prevent students with learning disabilities from enrolling. LEAD board president Charlotte Meadows and another board member controlled a private bank account. Meadows used the school to run her campaign for the Alabama House and directed school funds to her campaign manager and her niece. Teachers and other employees … Continued

Josh Moon

November 1, 2019

Opinion

Education matters

It was September 30 and only 25 feet away stood Soner Tarim, the wizard of charter schools, from Houston, TX (even though he said that day he lives in Montgomery). It was a meeting of the state charter school commission and Tarim was there to tell us how wonderful things are at LEAD Academy charter in … Continued

Larry Lee

October 14, 2019

Opinion

Montgomery’s first charter school is failing because the laws weren’t followed

Charter schools are not all bad. Let’s get that out of the way right at the top. There are charter schools out there that do a wonderful job educating children and filling a need that isn’t being met by the local public school system. That was sort of the goal of charter schools when they … Continued

Josh Moon

October 4, 2019

AEA backs former charter school principal, will investigate possible illegal activity at LEAD Academy

The former principal at Montgomery charter school LEAD Academy said Tuesday that she was pushed out of the school improperly after board members discovered that she reported concerns about students’ safety and other improprieties that violated state law to the Alabama Department of Education. APR reported Tuesday morning, citing numerous employees at the school, that … Continued

Josh Moon

October 2, 2019

Opinion

‘Craziness’: How Montgomery’s first charter school has devolved into chaos in less than six weeks

LEAD Academy, Montgomery’s first charter school, has been a chaotic mess since it opened less than six weeks ago, with staffing shortages leaving more than 70 students crammed into one class, angry teachers left without necessary supplies, student shortages threatening the school, extensive discipline issues and an ongoing fight between staff and the LEAD board … Continued

Josh Moon

October 1, 2019

Opinion

An Islamic movement, fraud and improper hires: Even more (and weirder) questions arise about Montgomery’s first charter school

When the leadership team behind Montgomery charter school LEAD Academy began putting together an application to start a school, the members knew they lacked experience. None of them had opened a charter or had experience running a school. So, they made the unique decision to turn the management of their school over to a Charter … Continued

Josh Moon

March 27, 2019

Opinion

The Montgomery School Board rejected a charter application. It was the right move.

It will be deemed the fault of the Montgomery County School Board that a plan for four conversion charter schools did not pass on Tuesday. Do not listen to that nonsense. The MPS board did what was right. It did what any group of people charged with oversight of a public school district should have … Continued

Josh Moon

February 20, 2019