The Alabama Public Charter School Commission heard and voted on four charter school proposals during their regularly scheduled meeting on May 12.
The commission voted to approve Ignite Academy for Advanced Careers, a grade 6-12 school to be based in Mobile, and Under the Oaks Academy, a pre-K-6 school to be based in Huntsville.
The commission also voted to deny proposals for Invictus Career Institute, a proposed grade 6-12 charter school to be based in Bessemer, and a Birmingham replication of the Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School, a public charter focused on preparing students for jobs in the aerospace and aviation industries that already has an established location in Bessemer.
The commission also heard a report from New Schools for Alabama Chief Executive Officer Tyler Barnett, who spoke before the group regarding his organization’s work to foster collaborations between HBCUs and charter schools in Alabama.
HBCU-charter partnerships proposed by New Schools for Alabama include one between Stillman College and I Dream Big Academy, a public charter approved by the commission last year and slated to begin operations in the fall in Tuscaloosa, as well as a partnership between Tuskegee University and D.C. Wolfe School, a public charter school in Macon County; Miles College and the proposed Birmingham replication of AAHS and Lawson State Community College and Invictus Career Institute.
According to Barnett, a collaboration between Bishop State and ACCEL Academy, a charter school in Mobile, is being developed for the program’s second year, and potential collaborations with charters and Talladega College and Alabama A&M have been discussed for the future.
Barnett said the program was inspired by the Howard University Middle School of Math and Science, a charter school on the university’s campus in Washington, D.C., and University Charter School, a charter school on the University of West Alabama’s campus.
“Y’all know the success that University Charter School has had,” Barnett told the commission. “In many ways, that is because of the infrastructure that such a partnership affords charter schools from the very beginning of their launch: access to leadership with deep roots in education, access to credibility within a community, talent.”
“So, what this is, is a chance for us to take advantage of those lessons learned and bring them to bear for other charter schools,” Barnett said of New Schools’s HBCU partnership program.
Barnett explained the program is a pilot program for a broader national initiative led by UNCF and the National Charter Collaborative, alongside New Schools and its partners in Alabama, to increase collaboration between HBCUs and public charters.
“The folks that are contributing to this chose Alabama because what we have done in this charter school sector and because of the demand on our HBCUs and the opportunities that that creates to scale this and see what really works and to do that here in Alabama,” Barnett said.
Donors for the project include Bloomberg Philanthropies, City Fund, the United Negro College Fund and The Charter School Growth Fund. Funding for the initiative also includes grants from the National School Foundation and UNCF.
Barnett said the University of West Alabama and University Charter School are also partners on the project, with officials providing guidance on collaboration between charters and universities based on the existing partnership.
Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School’s founder, Ruben Morris, advocated for the approval of AAHS’s proposed replication in Birmingham.
“In particular, with this iteration,n we want to step into the AI and computer science realm,” Morris said, arguing the proposed collaboration between the school and Miles College would advance both schools’ computer science programs and bolster computer science and data analytics education in the state.
Morris also cited the AAHS’s ACT scores for 2025, which outperformed Birmingham and Bessemer City Schools’ 2024 Alabama academic report card ratings for reading, math and science.
Also at the meeting were Birmingham City Schools officials who urged the commission to deny the school’s application.
Birmingham City Schools Director of Innovation Cedric Tatum argued AAHS’s plan lacked “coherence, cultural relevance and rigor,” with the proposal for the school including no response to the application section for “describing the school’s unique or innovative programming.”
Tatum also described the proposed school’s operational plan as “incomplete and unrealistic,” taking issue with both the school’s financial and staffing plans.
Tatum cited AAHS’s Alabama state report card, which found the school to have a chronic absentee rate of 52 percent, and said Birmingham City Schools were not provided adequate information regarding the school’s proposed collaboration with Miles College.
Research analyst Andrew Krist argued on behalf of AAHS saying, when defining chronic absenteeism as missing over 10 percent of school days, only 12 percent of the school’s students qualified as chronically absent.
“Our district, Birmingham City Schools, is committed to ensuring that every public school meets rigorous standards of excellence, readiness and community accountability. This application does not,” Tatum said.
The commission voted 7-4 to deny the school’s application to open a Birmingham location.
“We do feel, as a staff, we feel that applications are extremely important, particularly in determining the capacity and the likelihood for success later,” said Alabama Charter School Commission Executive Director Logan Searcy. “So, we want to urge the commission to consider all applications and that, when doing so, we look for high-quality applications. We look for applications that all areas are answered at the time that they are submitted.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve the application for Ignite Academy presented by the school’s backers, the Mobile Area Education Foundation.
The school is a grade 6-12 charter focused on STEM education and providing students direct pipelines to high-wage positions in the architecture, construction, manufacturing, maritime, transportation and health sciences industries.
The commission also unanimously voted to approve Under the Oaks Academy, a K-6 charter to be opened in Huntsville, proposed by Under the Oaks Enrichment Center.
“Huntsville, Ala., some would argue now the fastest growing city in the South, is a hub of innovation and opportunity. Yet, in a city of such promise, there’s still children being overlooked — students who may never access high-quality education,” said Under the Oaks Enrichment Center Executive Director Evelyn Hambrick.
Hambrick said the school will prioritize “more individualized attention” to improving student outcomes, including project-based learning that prioritizes real-life problem solving and differentiated instruction, which tailors teaching to the diverse needs of students.
Searcy said areas of concern with the school’s application included evidence of how funding would be received and allocated, as well as a letter from the Huntsville City Schools Superintendent’s office saying the school may “abet their desegregation efforts.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve Under the Oaks’s application on the condition that the school obtains an order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama stating the school’s opening would not “impact or delay” the district’s desegregation efforts and Under the Oaks providing adequate proof of the school’s financial stability.
The proposal for Invictus Career Institute was unanimously denied.
The proposed school would provide career pathways in health sciences, information technology, construction and manufacturing, and human services.
Searcy said the application for the charter had informational gaps regarding community engagement and no answer for how the school would provide innovative curriculum.
“I propose, again as I said earlier today, that we expect our applicants to complete the process,” Searcy said.
The Alabama Public Charter School Commission’s next meeting is expected to take place the first week of June.
