Kelvin Adams, right, superintendent of ӣƵ Public Schools, turns the podium over to Senior Pastor Michael Jones of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, after making a speech about the importance of getting children enrolled in school and attending the first day of classes. He spoke to congregants as part of the district's "For Our Schools Sunday" outreach initiative.
ST. LOUIS — An influential Black church in north ӣƵ will add public education to its mission next fall.
Friendly Academy elementary charter school received unanimous approval Tuesday from the Missouri State Board of Education. The school partner of church plans to open in fall 2025 with 100 students in kindergarten and first grade, adding a grade each year for a total of 400 students through fifth grade.
“I’m excited and hopeful with Friendly Temple’s track record,” said Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, a board member from Pasadena Hills. “Everything Bishop (Michael F.) Jones touches turns to gold.”
Westbrooks-Hodge said her support was tempered by two concerns: Charter schools can open without taxpayer approval, and the city has a declining number of families.
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“We’re opening new schools when the population of ӣƵ continues to dwindle and, dare I say, hemorrhage,” Westbrooks-Hodge said.
Charter schools, which are publicly funded but independent from ӣƵ Public Schools, have a mixed record since first opening in the city in 2000. Half of the 32 charter school operators have folded due to financial or academic failures.
The city’s public school enrollment has declined by 400 students in charters and 3,000 students in SLPS since fall of 2019. The ӣƵ Board of Aldermen passed a nonbinding resolution in 2021 calling for a moratorium on opening new schools in the city.
ӣƵ Public Schools board secretary Donna Jones speaks at a protest against new charter schools in the city on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, outside the Delmar Divine mixed-use building in ӣƵ. With Jones are her daughter, former SLPS board member Susan Jones, left; and Tracy Spies, right, co-chair of the SLPS parent action council.
“Unfortunately, it is not a surprise that the state would approve another charter school,” said Byron Clemens, spokesman for the American Federation of Teachers Local 420, which represents SLPS staff. “Willy-nilly opening and closing schools in areas with a declining population is clearly the wrong direction.”
Missouri law requires that charter schools have no religious influence on curriculum and operations.
In 2021, the state school board penalized the University of Missouri for failed oversight of religious elements at Eagle College Prep charter schools in ӣƵ, which were then run by Christian group Open Sky Education, based in Wisconsin. Eagle schools, now called Momentum, are no longer affiliated with Open Sky.
The curriculum at the new charter school will focus on artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and community service, according to the presentation at the state board meeting. Bishop Jones is a founding member of Friendly Academy’s board of directors and also sits on the board of Opportunity Trust, which helps fund the charter school.
“Friendly Academy will also target families who are members of our partner faith-based institutions. These families have been demanding a quality school for over a decade,” reads the school’s prospectus.
The presentation said the school plans to open at 5599 Ridge Avenue in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood, two blocks from Friendly Temple’s main campus on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.
The building is the former Ford Branch school built in 1958. Friendly Temple bought the building in 2015 from SLPS to use for their Meals on Wheels program, according to the .
Friendly Temple counts Mayor Tishaura O. Jones among its high-powered members. The church sits in the city’s 13th Ward, represented by Alderwoman Pamela Boyd, whose daughter Antionette “Toni” Cousins is president of the SLPS board. Bishop Jones is a board member at North City Community Partners redevelopment group, where Cousins is CEO.
Cousins and the other SLPS board members did not respond to a request for comment on Friendly Academy. Before she joined the SLPS board in 2022, Emily Hubbard wrote a letter to the editor opposing the involvement of religious groups in charter schools.
“I am deeply troubled that these groups chose to pursue their mission of Christian education by putting public money into religious coffers and weakening the public school district that must serve every student, no matter their needs,” Hubbard wrote.
The SLPS board has historically objected to new charter schools and sued Believe STL Academy last year for failing to notify the district of its intent to open. The lawsuit was dismissed in June, and the school opened in August with 120 students in ninth and 10th grades. The SLPS board is appealing the decision.
Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 23 to note that the SLPS board has appealed a lawsuit.
Advocates took turns weighing in on three charter school bills proposed in the Missouri House of Representatives. Two speakers can be seen in this video: Brant Shields of the Missouri School Boards' Association and Tiara Jordan of Activate STL, a nonprofit organization that champions school choice.
