Editor's note:
This story was updated to include additional information from Michele Campbell.
The head of the LeBron James Family Foundation lambasted members of the Akron Board of Education Monday, saying the elected leaders broke her trust and harmed students when they expressed disappointment with the school’s results earlier this year.
In July, the board questioned the success of the I Promise School, founded in 2018 and funded in part by the foundation.
Michele Campbell, the executive director of the foundation, said board members’ criticism came after they failed to respond to an email she had sent earlier that month. She said her email expressed optimism about new leadership at the school that she said would bring stability for students and staff alike.
“We all know what happened next,” Campbell said during the public comment period, about an hour into the meeting. “Trust was broken.”
The board meeting was the last for President Derrick Hall and member Valerie McKitrick, who were honored for their service before Campbell’s remarks. Later, board members approved a new strategic plan in a 6-0 vote. The proposal suggests that the district create a full-day pre-Kindergarten program and sets new focus areas for the district’s success.
Campbell, in her comments, told the board that parents and supporters weren’t given the opportunity to speak to the school’s successes or were cut off when they tried to make comments. The board’s criticism of test results received national attention and caused students to regress and “be ridiculed and reduced to numbers.” She called what they went through “agony.”
“What this board put our students and families through is deplorable,” Campbell said.
Staff continues to provide support
She added that staff members continued to help students, whose families need additional support such as medical care, legal aid and access to a food pantry. They delivered food and made other efforts to improve their well-being because “lives are at stake.” The school, she said, aims to help educate children and families for a better future.
“This board allowed important work to be a personal vendetta,” she said.
Hall, the outgoing board president, said he and Campbell had had a 45-minute conversation that he thought had been productive, but he didn’t further address her comments.
Campbell later said the conversation took place several months ago, after another board meeting. At the time, she was still reeling from the public criticism, she said, and not in a good frame of mind to recall the conversation.
“I received everything, but my mind wasn’t 100% there,” she said.
Hall did not respond to a phone call Tuesday seeking additional comment.
In a statement sent via a spokesperson after the meeting, Akron Public Schools Superintendent Michael Robinson said he loves the I Promise School and the work the LeBron James Family Foundation has done.
“I just want us to forge ahead and continue to collaborate and work for the good of our scholars,” he wrote. “In this season, it’s time for us to move forward. Let’s work together and create a better Akron together.”
Campbell said Tuesday she and the foundation have had a longstanding, positive relationship with the school board, though she called this year “a little bit of a challenge.” She said she wanted to speak to the board to affirm the LeBron James Family Foundation’s commitment to Akron and the I Promise School. That includes helping the district pass an expected levy next year, she said.
“I need to move forward, and we all need to move forward,” she said. “The statement, it wasn’t about any one person. It’s about something bigger.”
Campbell said she waited several months to address the board with her concerns because she spent a long time in “damage control.” Conversations about student performance, she said, would have been better behind closed doors. To publicly criticize their achievements was harmful, she said.
“It was a very low time for us,” Campbell said. “All relationships have challenging times. We’ve survived challenging times.”
