Mississippi authorizers move to revoke Canton charter school over finances

The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board voted Monday to hold a public hearing that could lead to revocation of SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy’s charter, the board said.

The board said its executive director will appoint a hearing officer to schedule the public hearing, but it did not provide a timeline. State statute requires that charter authorizer board members, school officials and other relevant parties be notified of an administrative hearing at least 30 days in advance, the board noted.

In a statement, the authorizer board said the hearing would begin “a formal review process outlined by state law and the school’s charter school contract.” The statement added, “Revocation proceedings allow the school an opportunity to respond and participate in the process before any final decision is made.” No one from SR1 CPSA attended the board’s meeting on Monday, the board said.

The authorizer board said it began the revocation process in December after setting up a corrective action plan and giving school leaders an opportunity to demonstrate financial solvency. The board cited the school having one day’s worth of cash on hand and submitting its financial audit 23 days late, which did not meet the board’s standards. The board recommends that schools have 30 to 60 days of cash on hand, it said.

The board said SR1 CPSA has never met its enrollment target, which reduced its funding from the Mississippi Department of Education because state funding is based on head count and the state recoups funds from schools that overproject enrollment. The authorizer board approved a charter for SR1 CPSA in December 2020 after multiple failed application attempts by Gregory Tamu Green, who founded SR1 and serves as CEO of the Ridgeland-based nonprofit that operates the school. The school delayed its start from 2022-23 to 2023-24 because of struggles securing space and recruiting, the board said. Neither Green nor Dorlisa Hutton, the nonprofit’s chief operating officer and a Vanguard Ambassador at the school, could immediately be reached for comment.

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