The voice on the other end of the phone line was polite, filled with the conviction of youth and disappointed that all people claiming to want the best for children are not sincere.
I’d heard the same voice hundreds of times before. Young people who had planned all their life to work with children, who had been “called” to do so. Voices full of both enthusiasm and innocence. Their mission was to save the world one child at a time. To give love and care and lots of hugs.
And so it was with the young lady I was talking to.
Except, she took a job at Montgomery’s LEAD Academy charter school and within a few weeks came to the jarring conclusion that what she faced each day was NOT what schools should be. A place were promises were not kept, administration was haphazard at best and money seemed to drive every decision.
She had a master’s degree and taught in a private school in Birmingham before joining LEAD. Why a charter school I asked. “Because I heard they offer more freedom to teachers,” she replied.
That was not what she found. And only weeks after going to work, she left behind a school she believes is not doing a good job of educating their students and one she would not recommend as a work place for another teacher.
She taught kindergarten and was so dedicated to her new job that she communed daily from Birmingham. She was interviewed by now dismissed principal Nicole Ivey and hired by the school’s board in June. She spent $650 on classroom supplies, but was not reimbursed after being told she would be. She was told she needed teaching “centers” in her room–but got no funding for them. Her paycheck for August was a week and one half late and about $1,200 less than she thought it would be. She got the remainder of her August check in September.
She did not get a contract until Sept. 27. To her surprise, it stated that she would be an “at will” employee, someone who could be terminated at any time. She did not sign it and resigned three days later. She was the second of five teachers to leave, along with the school nurse and special education director. When she left, all remaining teachers except one, were first year, including one with no education degree or certification
Two of her students also left.
The climate at the school? “Extremely chaotic,” she said. “Teachers got little support from the administration which was primarily LEAD board chair Charlotte Meadows and consultant Soner Tariim. “It was not a pleasant place to work,” she told me, “there was a feeling of discomfort and Soner Tarim was rude to teachers.”
Meadows would visit classrooms and tell faculty what to do. Who did she report to I asked. This brought a laugh. “We were constantly told different things by different people.” she said.
Finally the chaos and broken promises and lack of a clear chain of command were too much. She resigned.
Amazingly, when I talked to her she was not bitter. (Young people are like that you know.) But she was definitely disappointed that her motivation to help children in any way possible was obviously not the motivation for why this school began.
She is now looking for another teaching job. She will find one I’m sure. Let’s pray her dream of helping children still burns bright, which I think it does, and that at her next stop she will find administrators with the same desire.
A Close Look At The Lawsuit Filed Against LEAD Academy
Halloween was more trick than treat for LEAD Academy charter school in Montgomery as that was the day former principal, Nichole Ivey, filed a civil legal action against board chairperson Charlotte Meadows, the other three board members and the school’s education consultant, Soner Tarim, of Houston, TX.
The suit, which alleges fraud and breach of contract, documents an assortment complaints, ranging from Meadows using school property for a political campaign, discrimination against special education students, miscue of funds and much more.
LEAD responded with a three sentence statement saying that Ivey is “a disgruntled former employee who is providing false and misleading information in order to try and salvage her reputation.”
However, an attorney friend of many years reviewed the filing and told me that if only half of the allegations are true, LEAD has major problems.
Let’s take a look at some highlights
- Ivey was hired by the LEAD board on April 29, 2019: She began work in May. Her agreed upon salary was $95,000 annually. Shortly after, this was dropped to $93,000 and she was told that she would be an “at-will” employee, something that had never been discussed.
- In June the Montgomery Area Association of Realtors gave LEAD $200,000 in startup funding. However, the suit contends that Meadows only put $100,000 into the school’s account and put the other $100,000 in a separate account controlled by herself and a board member. Ivey had no knowledge of how this money was being used.
- Charter board members can not be involved in day-to-day management of a school. However, Meadows assumed the role of CEO going so far as to demand to attend parent-teacher meetings. (Meadows told a Montgomery radio show that she is only a “volunteer.”)
- Meadows used the school’s finance office for her own political activities. Ivey could not access school financial records.
- Meadows decreed that all school supplies had to be purchased from a company where her campaign chair works.
- An effort was made to minimize students with special needs. Meadows denies this and told the Montgomery Advertiser that LEAD has 19 special needs students. According to the state department of education, LEAD reported an enrollment of 348 students. This means only 5.4 percent of the student population falls in this category. I checked with a number of elementary schools in the Montgomery system and this is less than one-half the percentage of traditional public schools.
- Meadows signed checks without having purchase orders or invoices and without checks being signed by principal Ivey.
- Meadows reportedly told staff to tell parents of special education students “they can’t come here.” The suit also alleges that Meadows said, “We’re a charter school, we don’t have to follow the law.”
- Consultant Tarim and Meadows over-rode the principal on discipline recommendations in fear of losing students which would limit their allocation of state funding.
- Staff was required to attend 15 days of professional development, but only paid for attending seven days.
- There was a lack of adequate health care when the school nurse was not on site. The nurse resigned because LEAD refused to comply with state law regarding student health.
- Tarim is paid $30,000 per month and his duties include such things as handling human resource issues, background checks, developing a faculty handbook, professional development, grant writing, food service, financial maintenance and purchasing. However, Ivey handled these tasks, not Tarim.
- Ivey was told on Sept. 27 by Meadows that the school. “moving in a different direction.” Ivey had no formal evaluation or formal reprimand.
How will this all play out? No one knows. But this is certainly a lot of smoke for there to be no fire.
Editor’s note: Meadows served on the Montgomery County school board from 2006-12. Durden Dean was elected to this same slot when Meadows did not run again. Dean resigned in the summer of 2018 to move to North Carolina. It was up to the school board to fill the few months left in his term. Board member Lisa Keith nominated Meadows to fill this vacancy. She could not get a second to her nomination. I was then selected for this position.
Meadows was also nominated by senate majority leader Del Marsh in 2016 for a seat on the state charter commission. Her nomination was rejected by the state school board.
Terminated LEAD principal Nicole Ivey sues charter school, citing 14 complaints
Former LEAD Academy principal Nicole Ivey is suing Montgomery's first charter school following her termination, alleging among other things, breach of contract, violation of due process and fraud by the suppression of material facts.
In a 40-page lawsuit, 14 complaints are documented, ranging from campaigning on school property, discrimination against special education students and noncompliance with several state laws.
Those named in the suit include Charlotte Meadows, the school's founder and board president who is also
running for the Alabama Legislature; Soner Tarim; owner of Unity School Services, an education service provider; Unity School Services; and each of the school's board members: Ryan Cantrell, William Green and Lori White.
Ivey is being represented by the Daughtry, Woodard, Lawrence & Starling law firm, as well as the Alabama Education Association.
Here are some of the documented claims.
Claim: Special education discrimination
The suit claims LEAD's objective is to "maximize school revenue and academic achievement by minimizing the presence of students with special needs."
More here Lead Academy lawsuit
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