Supporters of Fairley High School make their case for it to remain a public charter school

Patricia Adams graduated from Fairley High School in 1989, when the school was still a traditional public school in Memphis.Since then, she’s witnessed the school undergo two different leadership changes, including what she calls a rebirth when Green Dot Public Schools took over to run Fairley as a public charter school in the state-run Achievement School District (ASD). Adams is currently serving as the organization’s Director of Operations.“I got a chance to see, going from having a school full of educators where there was a handful who were passionate about educating the students in Whitehaven, and going to Green where now there is a school full of individuals educating students excited, always reminded of the ‘why,’ why they're in education, why they're here in the community, why our students and we convey that to the students,” said Adams. “They now know their ‘why,’ why they come every day, why we encourage them, why we push them, and you see the growth in our enrollment, it is because we are not just sitting waiting for our families to come get educated. We are getting them excited about coming to be educated at Fairley and with Green Dot.”The future of that passion for Fairley became uncertain following a decision last month by the Memphis-Shelby County School Board.Fairley is in the last year of a ten-year contract with the ASD, an intervention run by the state to serve low achieving schools.  Green Dot applied to Memphis-Shelby County Schools to transition into the district and remain a public charter school, but the board voted that application down.Under state law, Green Dot has the option of appealing to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission to overturn the district denial.Wednesday morning the Commission held a hearing for supporters of Fairley, including multiple students and alumni, to make their case.“I'm very proud to say that as Green Dot took over, Fairley has accomplished many things such as high graduation rate, fewer suspensions, college and career courses, and making a wonderful safe learning environment for students to come in and grow as a student and upcoming adult for the future. My experience at Fairley has taught me that greatness is in you, not on you,” said current student Aliyah Spencer.Fairley High School is a “turnaround school” and the first Green Dot managed outside of California. Green Dot Public Schools is a network of charter schools in Memphis, Los Angeles, and Beaumont, Texas.Supporters pointed out Fairley is currently performing on the same level as the other turnaround schools and made significant gains during the first year under Green Dot, outperforming the state in nearly every category.“We are proud of the work we've done at Fairley High School, and we look forward to continuing to grow. Since then, as I said, we have made significant strides and we have learned a lot from our time at Green Dot Failey,” said Green Dot Tennessee Executive Director Jocquell Rogers.Memphis-Shelby County School Board members voted down Green Dot’s transfer application following a recommendation from the district’s charter review team.A district representative told the Public Charter School Commission Fairley’s application failed to provide enough evidence with specific historical data on the school’s past performance that supports the continued implementation and success of the current academic model.The district also found the application didn’t address the challenges that would come with transitioning out of the ASD nor did it have a clear governance structure.“The proposed school's amended application lacks further details to demonstrate confidence in implementing an effective school exit plan as an ASD school transitioning to MSCS and the application is absent of addressing potential challenges and how those challenges would be mitigated as part of the transition,” said the MSCS representative. “Lastly, the applicant did not discuss the capacity to operate high quality schools in Tennessee.”The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission is expected to decide Fairley’s appeal next month.A decision in support would allow Green Dot to continue operating the school as a public charter school while a denial could mean closure or a merger into the district’s IZone turnaround school model.