Canton School Closure: Charter Revoked After Board Vote

The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board voted on Monday to revoke the charter of SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy in Canton, Mississippi. The decision forces the closure of the school, leaving more than 100 students without a place to learn starting next spring.

The timeline of the school’s operation was short. SR1 opened its doors in 2023 and initially served kindergarten and first-grade students. The school planned to add one new grade level each year. It was scheduled to complete the current fall semester but will not reopen for the spring term.

The board cited academic and financial reasons for the revocation. Officials stated that the school failed to meet academic expectations and standards for fiscal management. The decision was based on financial audits and evidence presented during hearings.

Nancy Fry, a grandmother who has a grandson enrolled in kindergarten at the school, expressed shock at the announcement. She described the impact on her family’s routine. “I was truly devastated because when I first heard it, I was like they are doing what,” Fry said. She noted that her grandson has thrived in the environment. “Now he can sit in front of a computer at 5-years-old and can tell me things about a computer and how to do this and how to do that,” she said. Fry argued that the school’s methods were working. “So, if this school is teaching him to use these instruments and to be able to do the things that he can do, why disrupt him,” she added.

Niccori Brown, a former teacher and parent at the school, said she saw warning signs earlier. Brown taught at SR1 and also enrolled her son there. She criticized the lack of transparency during her time at the institution. “I feel like there should have been more transparency when I was a teacher and parent at the school. I constantly was asking questions but not getting any answers,” Brown said. She noted that the school lacked a dedicated STEM teacher, a core feature of its identity. “First of all, we didn’t have a STEM teacher and it’s a STEM school,” Brown said. She explained that staff from the main office often filled in, but their lessons were not related to STEM subjects.

Brown placed responsibility for the closure on the school’s owners rather than the local staff. “The owners. That’s who I would place it on because the leadership we had at the school, the provost that we had last year, I had no issues with her,” she said. She recalled that the small team ran smoothly. Brown suggested that the management issues should be addressed without closing the school. “Whatever the problem is…if it’s not the school and if it’s the management, I feel they should deal with the management and not mess with the school,” she said.

Parents and staff now face an urgent deadline to secure new placements for the students. Brown said families must scramble to find jobs or new schooling options by January. “My heart goes out to them because they have to now scramble to find jobs by January, I imagine,” Brown said. She noted that many families chose SR1 to avoid local district schools. “So, now they are back at square one. They have to possibly put them there or if they have the funds, put them in private schools or even home school,” she said. The school is set to close on Dec. 31. It is unclear whether the school can appeal the board’s decision.

SR1 posted on its Facebook page that it wants input from parents before the final close. The school stated that parents’ perspectives are an important part of the school’s story and that it wants to ensure their voices are heard. The board’s decision takes effect immediately, and the school will finish the fall semester without a spring reopening.