Wake’s school academies to stay at St. Aug’s for now, despite accreditation fears

Wake County will not relocate leadership academy students from troubled St. Augustine’s University to Wake Technical Community College this semester.

Students at the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy attend classes at St. Augustine’s for college credit. The Wake school system had been considering transferring the students to Wake Tech for the rest of the semester because of St. Aug’s potentially losing its accreditation.

The school board met behind closed doors Tuesday night before announcing Wednesday that it would stay with St. Aug’s for now. But the district says it’s working on long-term plans should St. Aug’s lose its accreditation appeal with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

“After careful consideration of all options, the decision has been made to continue our partnership with St. Augustine University for the remainder of this semester,” the district said in a message sent Wednesday to families at both leadership academies.

“Our school board asked us to share this with you: They strongly support our Leadership Academies partnering with a four-year university, in the short term and in the long term.”

Wake to wait out accreditation appeal

Both single-gender leadership academies opened in Raleigh in 2012, serving middle school and high school students. The schools are also early colleges, meaning students take tuition-free college courses with a partner institution of higher learning.

Families have been in an uproar since the news came out in December that St. Augustine’s could lose its accreditation. A hearing will be held in February on the small historically Black university’s appeal of the accreditation decision.

Wake held a meeting Monday night with families to give them an update and to collect feedback. One of the issues raised at the meeting was whether students taking college courses this semester could be in danger if St. Aug’s lost the appeal.

But in Wednesday’s update, Wake said St. Aug’s has committed to going to arbitration if it loses the appeal in February.

“Thus, SAU would retain its accreditation during the arbitration process,” the district said. “That process would extend beyond the end of the spring semester, allowing students to complete the semester at an accredited university.”

Possible switch to Wake Tech

Wake had been talking with Wake Tech about having the leadership academy students take the community college’s classes this semester. In that scenario, some or all of the students now attending St. Augustine’s would have moved to a former movie theater in Garner that the district used as a ninth-grade center for Garner High.

But the switch would have meant students having to start new courses mid-semester. They’d have to complete them on an abbreviated schedule.

Also, students might have to take their new courses virtually instead of on one of Wake Tech’s campuses.

“This decision also acknowledges that a large portion of our students and families have expressed a deep need for stability this semester, as our juniors, seniors, and super-seniors are already invested and fully committed to their academic semester,” the district said in its message.

Wake’s long-term planning

The district said it also heard concerns raised by students and families about St. Aug’s long-term stability, facility conditions, accreditation and the potential impact on future students.

“We understand these concerns and, as we await updates on SAU’s accreditation status, we are proactively considering contingency plans for the academic year 2024-25,” Wake said.

Ending the relationship with St. Aug’s would mean losing the state funding and the designation of being a cooperative innovative high school. This also means losing the option of students being able to stay at the leadership academy for a fifth year to take additional college courses.

Parents were told it takes time for both the State Board of Education and state lawmakers to add new schools to the cooperative innovative high school program.

Parents wonder what will happen next

Paul Katsirubas, whose daughter is a a freshman at the women’s leadership academy. said Wake should have had a plan in place already to deal with the accreditation situation.

“I have zero confidence that this will be resolved in a way to help the students,” he said in an interview.

Katsirubas said he’s worried that Wake’s update only really addresses this semester. His daughter isn’t planning to take classes at St. Aug’s until next semester.

But Christine Kraft, whose daughter is an eight-grade student at the women’s academy, is more forgiving.

“They’re trying to do the best they can for the kids even though that doesn’t seem to be the case for some parents,” Kraft said in an interview.

Kraft said she saw the writing on the wall and applied to the magnet school program at Enloe High School in Raleigh.

In its update, Wake said it’s committed to transparency as it decides on the future of the leadership academies. This includes a joint follow-up meeting with parents that Wake Superintendent Robert Taylor is working to schedule with Marcus Burgess, St. Aug’s interim president.

“We understand that you may still have questions or concerns, and we are committed to providing ongoing communication as we move forward,” Wake said. “We will work closely with SAU to ensure a smooth and productive semester that continues to provide your children with the high-quality education they deserve.”