Despite a vote to revoke its charter, a Southwest Philly grade school is defiantly staying open as it appeals the Board of Education ruling handed down over the summer.
Throughout the fall semester at Southwest Leadership Academy, located at 72nd and Paschall near the Cobbs Creek Parkway, parents and faculty have stood behind the school leaders in their decision to continue holding classes.
A coalition representing Black-led charters in Philadelphia, which has alleged systemic bias in district charter revocations, has also defended the K-8 school’s decision.
At the academy’s charter renewal hearings in June 2022, hearings officer Rudy Garica presented evidence that it had violated 20 requirements for charters — including rules around enrollment and employee background checks — and that its financial viability was in question, according to reporting in The Inquirer.
The Board of Education overwhelmingly approved the non-renewal, by a 7-2 vote.
Briana Gordan, mother of two children relatively new to Southwest Leadership Academy, doesn’t quite understand why.
“I think that’s crazy they’re trying to close… I feel like their structure, their discipline, their method, and curriculum is really strong,” Gordan said. “I really hope that that doesn’t happen. It would be unfortunate for all the kids that go here.”
Southwest Leadership Academy’s 2022 statewide standardized test scores, the latest published by the school district, show significant challenges: an 8-point year-over-year drop in both math (to just 5% proficient or advanced) and English (to 19%). The 2023 scores, however, recently released by the Pa. Dept. of Education, show an improvement, to 10% proficient or advanced in math and 25% in English.
The Elmwood Park zip code surrounding the school has a median income of just over $37,600, about a third lower than Philadelphia overall, according to U.S. Census data. Nearly a third of area residents live below the federal poverty line.
Like the neighborhood at large, the great majority of Southwest Leadership Academy students are Black, and school leaders have said their priority is to provide students with leadership skills to revitalize their community.
Positive behavior at the school, as measured by the percent of students who didn’t receive any suspensions, was down year over year in 2022, dropping 3 points to 79%. That’s well below the district average, at 93%.
Southwest Leadership Academy attendance was a relative bright spot, up 10 points to 58% — way higher than the district-wide metric of 38%.
Too many students who require special ed?
The combined elementary and middle school was founded in 2007 by William D. Moore Sr., who currently serves as its board chair, and Wilson Goode, the former Philly mayor.
It holds separate classes for boys and girls, and has around 620 students enrolled, after an expansion in the 2018-2019 academic year doubled the student body.
The influx of new students is the source of some of the current difficulties, according to Southwest Leadership Academy CEO Leigh Purnell.
“We had students who were coming to us as regular education students who actually needed a level of service and support that would be equal to that of a special education student,” Purnell told BILLY PENN and the Logan Center. “Then in March of 2020, we found ourselves in the midst of the COVID pandemic. We’ve been recovering from that ever since.”
The school reported $13.5 million in revenue in 2022, with expenses totalling $13.4 million. While it had over $14 million in assets, according to IRS filings, it was also holding nearly $13 million in liabilities.
School parents remain supportive. Mohamed Bah, a father who recently moved to Philly from the Netherlands, said his children enjoy their classes.
“I hear a lot of good things from family members and friends,” Bah said. “They have their child here. They told me that it’s a good school. And so far my son wakes up, does his homework, and is happy to go to school.”
School CEO: ‘We’ll be able to demonstrate the positive outcomes’
The African American Charter School Coalition, which represents 17 of 21 charter schools in the city, has long alleged racial bias in the Philadelphia Philly school board’s closure votes.
A recent report looking back at the past decade found no intentional bias against Black-led charters, but did recommend changes in the system, including anti-bias training for board members and a change in hearing officers, Chalkbeat reported.
During the 2010-2021 period reviewed for the report, 62% charter revocations (8 of 13) were for Black-led schools, even though only about 20% of charter schools citywide were founded or helmed by Black leadership.
“There’s no intentional overt bias … but that doesn’t mean that there’s no bias or systemic racism in the system,” Dawn Chavous, a spokesperson for the coalition, told BILLY PENN and the Logan Center. “You can have systemic racism and not have intentional overt bias at the same time.”
Southwest Leadership Academy has filed an appeal of its revocation to the Pa. Charter Appeals Board, which means it can legally continue operating through the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
Purnell, the school CEO, is sanguine about the prospects for success.
“We will be able to demonstrate the improvements that we made over the life of the charter. We’ll be able to demonstrate the positive outcomes that we had for our students last school year,” Purnell said. “They will see that there are benefits to the students that we serve, as well as to the community that we serve. And they will overturn the school board’s decision.”