DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The Detroit Public Schools Community District is recommending approval for one of its charter schools even though it received an F grade for academics.
The Barack Obama Leadership Academy is part of a group of charter schools authorized by the Detroit public school district.
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The district has a “Reauthorization Rubric” that it uses to evaluate its charter schools that covers academics, operations and board governance and finances. The Barack Obama Leadership Academy earned zero points in academics, but did well enough in governance and operations to get a recommendation to be granted authorization for another year.
According to Detroit Public Schools Community District, the Barack Obama school had 64% of its students chronically absent in 2023-24, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year.
The school’s results on the state M-STEP tests show similar poor results. For instance, in 2023-24, none of the district’s third or sixth grade students were recorded as “proficient” in English Language Arts.
The district said just 7.3% of its students were proficient in English Language Arts in 2023-24. There were so few students who hit the academic benchmark in the testing topics of math, science and social studies that the school couldn’t provide data.
The school was formerly Timbuktu Academy and renamed after the former president at the start of the 2019-20 academic year. It is under the umbrella of charter schools sanctioned by Detroit Public Schools Community District with Magnum Educational Services serving as the management company.
“We believe that a rigorous academic program combined with social- emotional support and an African Centered methodology leads to scholarly success,” the school’s website stated.
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The school has 329 students this year, of which 321 are Black with no white students.