Back in 2018, NBA megastar LeBron James opened his I Promise School in Akron, Ohio with the noble goal of transforming the lives of at-risk students and parents in his hometown. But it appears that the school has some major challenges five years into its existence.
According to a report from the Akron Beacon Journal, the I Promise School’s fall class of eighth graders has has not seen a single student pass the state’s math test in five years – since the group was in the third grade.
Education officials were not exactly happy with these numbers.
“Not one? In three years?” Akron Public Schools board member Valerie McKitrick told the Akron Beacon Journal
“It is discouraging,” the district’s director of school improvement Keith Liechty-Clifford told the Journal.
School Board President Derrick Hall expressed his frustration with the data, especially considering all the resources the school has.
“For me as a board member, I just think about all the resources that we’re providing,” Hall said. “And I just, I’m just disappointed that I don’t think, it doesn’t appear like we’re seeing the kind of change that we would expect to see.”
It’s important to note that the school intentionally brings in at-risk students who have fallen behind in their studies, which certainly factors into the low test scores. However, it’s clear that these numbers are still disappointing.
