The Alabama Public Charter School Commission on Tuesday renewed contracts for two charter schools, each for a shorter term than school officials requested, signaling concerns they have with operations and results.

Montgomery startup charter school LEAD Academy was renewed for two years, which is three years short of the five-year term they requested. Birmingham startup Legacy Prep was given a four-year renewal, also short of its initial five-year contract.

LEAD Academy

Commission Chairman Luis Ferrer did not offer a reason for LEAD’s shortened term, instead saying the commission will use a “measuring stick” to hold school officials accountable.

“I promise you it’s not going to be a whooping stick,” Ferrer said.

Commissioners quizzed officials about LEAD Academy’s financial stability and plan to improve student achievement during a public hearing prior to the renewal vote.

Ferrer told school officials they are a “lifeline” for students in Montgomery who need a good education and that commissioners see the school’s potential to improve.

The school’s primary and intermediate campuses collectively earned an ‘F’ on the 2022 report card issued by the state with 53 points and landed on the federal school improvement list, meaning achievement was in the bottom 5% of schools statewide.

Results of the state’s 2023 standardized test, called the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program or ACAP, show 31% of students at LEAD were proficient in English language arts, 22% in science and just 2% in math.

LEAD’s Executive Director Erik Estill said raising achievement scores will take time, as students – all of whom previously attended Montgomery public schools – typically come in one to three grade levels behind.

“We’ve seen positive outcomes for our scholars,” Estill said, “particularly those who have attended LEAD Academy for multiple years.”

Read more Ed Lab: How a Birmingham school achieves gains in math: ‘The goal is always growth’

LEAD Academy opened in 2019 with 400 kindergarten through fifth grade students. He told commissioners the charter school fills a void in the Montgomery community.

“There is a significant need for this school choice,” Estill said. “We started the [current school] year with 600 on our waiting list. And that’s after we filled 800 seats.”

School officials told commissioners they are capable of paying back $1.9 million in overpayments for school lunches that Crave Cafeteria Solutions allegedly served but did not properly record during the pandemic.

“This is the elephant in the room that we know people have been concerned about,” Estill said.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture received an anonymous complaint alleging that Crave Cafeteria Solutions, the vendor supplying meals at LEAD Academy, “inflated the number of children and meals served” during the 2021-22 school year, according to documents reviewed by AL.com.

Though LEAD Academy is on the hook for the federal payback, LEAD Academy won a court judgment against Crave holding the meal provider responsible for paying LEAD Academy back the full amount.

Legacy Prep charter school

During the same meeting, the Commission renewed Legacy Prep charter school’s contract for four years. Nearly all of the school’s 440 kindergarten through sixth grade students are economically disadvantaged, according to Legacy Prep Executive Director Reneta Johnson.

Read more Ed Lab: A big expansion of a federal program is coming to these Alabama schools

The school, located on Birmingham’s west side, opened in 2019 with 120 kindergarten through second grade students and has added a grade level each year.

After the vote, Ferrer told Legacy Prep officials that commissioners have concerns with the school’s financial and operational compliance and will be providing more oversight over the next four years.

A 2022 audit of Legacy Prep found school officials misspent or didn’t accurately track more than $300,000 in expenses over a two-year period, but the money was not required to be repaid.

Ferrer complimented Legacy Prep on their academic performance, particularly given the high percentage of students in poverty that are enrolled. Results of the spring ACAP show 24% of students were proficient in English language arts, 12% in science and just 1% in math.

The Charter Commission currently oversees 10 public charter schools as the statewide authorizer, with four more set to open in 2024.