All eyes are on the legislature as multiple lawmakers have pledged to evaluate the state's funding for Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA), a charter school in Homewood. However, that's not the only path to potential change for the school.
Two entities control the fate of charter schools: the legislature, which funds them through the Education Trust Fund in the Foundation Program appropriation, and the Alabama Public Charter School Commission (the Commission), which monitors and regulates the charters that allow the school to operate.
A charter school can lose its charter in two ways: revocation, which can happen at any time in response to a school's violation of their charter or state law governing charter schools, or nonrenewal during the school's regularly scheduled renewal process. The process for both is laid out in the Commission's bylaws.
According to the Commission's website, Magic City Acceptance Academy's original contract is up for renewal this year if action isn't taken beforehand due to the school's potential violations of state law and dubious deviations from the state's approved curriculum.
The school answered the Commission's recent request for proof of compliance with state law with a letter outlining what appears to be largely cosmetic changes to its website, campus and procedures. These changes may stave off immediate revocation, but nonrenewal remains on the table.
Section 16-6F-8, the state statute governing charter schools, says, "No later than October 1, the governing board of a public charter school seeking renewal shall submit a renewal application to the charter authorizer pursuant to the renewal application guidance issued by the authorizer. The authorizer shall rule by resolution on the renewal application no later than 30 days after the filing of the renewal application."
While the rebranding and repainting may help those looking for a quick fix, the schools' problems run much deeper. The school also faces several operational challenges, as outlined by the Commission's 2023-2024 report, including a chronic absenteeism rate of nearly 28%—well above the state average of 17.9%. The report also outlined the financial challenge: "With a total margin of -0.23 and limited unrestricted cash on hand, the school's financial sustainability is a concern."
To date, two schools have had their charters revoked both before opening. In 2020, Woodland Prep in Washington County lost its charter. Nearly a year ago, in April 2024, the Alabama Public Charter School Commission voted to revoke the approval of the Barnabas School of Leadership, which was proposed for Dothan.
Should the school wait until October 1, 2026, to renew, the state would have 30 days to consider the renewal application before making a decision. Should the state choose not to renew the school's charter, the school could then appeal the decision in a process spelled out in statute and outlined in the Commission's bylaws, and again, the state would have up to 30 days to respond. It is unclear if this timeline would allow the school to operate for the entirety of the 2025-2026 school year, which begins in August 2025 and runs through May 2026.
According to the bylaws, "In the event that the Commission initiates revocation or nonrenewal proceedings, it shall, at the same time that it provides a charter holder with notification of the prospect of revocation or nonrenewal, appoint a committee of three Commissioners to develop a charter-school closure protocol under Alabama Code § 16-6F-8(d)."
Apcsc Bylaws 2024 by aprylmarie.fogel on Scribd
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X at @aprylmarie.
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