EMPOWERED, LIVES ARE MADE BETTER AND THE FUTURE HAS A GREATER BALANCE FOR ALL, THAT IS WHY WE SUPPORT CHICAGO TONIGHT: BLACK VOICES.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TOGETHER WE CAN DRIVE CHANGE.

>> THE FUTURE OF THE ALL BOYS CHARTER SCHOOL, URBAN PREP ACADEMY APPEARS BLEAK AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL AND FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT, THE CHICAGO BOARD OF EDUCATION VOTED IN OCTOBER TO REVOKE URBAN PREP CHARTER.

THE STATE SCHOOL BOARD DENIED THE APPEAL IN APRIL AND SEEKING THE TAKEOVER OF ENGLEWOOD AND BROWNSVILLE CAMPUSES LOOK INTIMATE.

AND DESPITE THE ONGOING LAWSUIT, IT APPEARS CPS IS INTENT ON ENDING THE CHARTER SCHOOLS INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC EDUCATION IN CHICAGO.

JOINING US TO TELL US WHERE THINGS STAND NOW IS THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLE OF URBAN PREP FIRST CAMPUS IN INGLEWOOD IN 2006.

SINCE 2018, HE HAS BEEN THE CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER FOR URBAN PREP ACADEMY.

SO, LET'S GET RIGHT INTO IT.

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, HOW DO YOU THINK THAT IT CAME INTO QUESTION WHERE THE VERY EXISTENCE BECAME AN ISSUE?

>> YEAH, UNFORTUNATELY IT STARTED WITH THESE ALLEGATIONS, THEY ARE SIMPLE ALLEGATIONS, NO EVIDENCE AT ALL.

IN TERMS OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST OUR FOUNDER AND FORMER CEO, THERE HAS BEEN FOUR INVESTIGATIONS, THREE OF WHICH HAVE FOUND UNSUBSTANTIATED.

ONLY THE CPS INVESTIGATION HAS MADE THESE ALLEGATIONS, AND THERE HAS BEEN NO EVIDENCE, NO TEXT MESSAGES, NO EYEWITNESSES, NO PHONE CALL, NO EVIDENCE AT ALL BESIDES A 30-YEAR-OLD MAN STATING THAT HE WAS TOUCHED ONE TIME BY THE FOUNDER AND WHO SINCE REFUSED TO COOPERATE WITH CPS, REFUSED TO SIGN ANYTHING STATING THIS AND HAS TWO OTHERS FADED, THAT HE LIED AND THIS WAS AN EFFORT TO SCORE MONEY.

THIS WAS UNFORTUNATE AND A FINANCIAL OBLIGATION OF MISMANAGEMENT.

>> I WANTED TO GET INTO THAT BECAUSE I KNOW HE DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS AND STEPPED DOWN BUT THERE ARE CHARGES OF FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT.

>> ABSOLUTELY, AND THIS IS AGAIN NOTHING BUT ALLEGATIONS, NO EVIDENCE.

FOR 17 YEARS, WE HAVE HAD CLEAN AUDITS, WE RAISED OVER $10 MILLION, THERE HAS BEEN CLEAN AUDITS LIKE I SAID, AND FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS, WE MET OR EXCEEDED CPS'S OWN FINANCIAL SCORECARD FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS.

WE HAVE ABOVE THE REQUIRED AMOUNT FOR RESERVES ON THE PAST 3 YEARS.

UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE USING ISSUES FROM ALMOST A DECADE AGO, WHEN THE GOVERNOR, DID NOT HAVE A BUDGET.

THE STATE DID NOT HAVE A BUDGET FOR 2 YEARS AND CPS IN RESPONSE TO THAT WAS THEY CUT THE BUDGET FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR.

AND AT URBAN PREP, WE DID NOT CUT PROGRAMMING OR FIRE TEACHERS.

WE DID SOME NONTRADITIONAL THINGS TO CLOSE THE GAPS, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING DONE ILLEGAL, WE SATISFIED ALL OF OUR LOANS WITHOUT DEFAULTING.

SO, THIS IS FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT.

SO AGAIN, THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF THAT, AND THEY ARE TRYING TO MISLEAD THE MEDIA TO SPEAK ON THESE ISSUES, BUT THIS WAS BACK WHEN THERE WAS NO STATE BUDGET AND CPS CUT THE BUDGET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR FOR TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS.

>> OUTSIDE OF THE FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT CHARTER, WERE THERE ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT CPS ABOUT THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF YOUR STUDENTS OR MAYBE THE TERM OF EDUCATION THAT YOU WERE PROVIDING?

>> NOT AT ALL, IF YOU LOOK AT THE METRICS, WE ARE OUTPERFORMING, IN TERMS OF CPS WHEN IT COMES TO BLACK BOYS.

YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DATA, IT IS NOT WHAT WE SAY, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE CPS DATA, RIGHT NOW YOU CAN LOOK AT GRADUATION RATES OF ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS.

YOU WILL SEE THAT WE HAD AN AVERAGE OF 91% HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE , VERSUS CPS BLACKMAIL GRADUATION RATE, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CONSORTIUM STUDIES THROUGH AND THROUGH SHOW CLEARLY AS FAR AS OUR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT RATE, BEING ABOVE 75% VERSUS CPS FOR BLACK BOYS UNDER 49%.

SO, IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT OUR SUCCESS, NOT BASED ON WHAT WE SAY BUT BASED ON THIRD-PARTY METRICS, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE FIVE ESSENTIAL SURVEY THAT ALL SCHOOLS DO OUR SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN WELL ORGANIZED AND THIS IS CERTAINLY PUT TOGETHER BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THAT PROVES THAT SCHOOLS WHO DO WELL ON THIS SURVEY, THERE SCHOOLS ARE MORE APT TO HAVE GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT FOR THEIR STUDENTS.

AND THE HIGHEST SCORE THAT YOU CAN SEE, ENGLEWOOD IS WELL ORGANIZED.

SO WITH THESE VARIOUS METRICS THAT ARE DONE BY THIRD PARTIES, URBAN PREP HAS EXCELLED IN THE COMMUNITY FOR THE PAST 17 YEARS.

SO, CPS HAS BEEN MISLEADING THE MEDIA, SAYING THEY ARE TAKING OVER, THEY ARE NOT TAKING OVER, THEY ARE CLOSING OUR SCHOOLS WHICH IS ILLEGAL, BASED ON THE MORATORIUM THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE SINCE JANUARY, 2022, OR JUNE, 2022 WHEN THEY STATED THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHOOL CLOSINGS UNTIL 2025.

>> DO YOU FEEL THAT URBAN PREP IS BEING UNFAIRLY TARGETED?

>> ABSOLUTELY.

ABSOLUTELY.

WE ARE A BLACK ORGANIZATION THAT MANAGES AND OPERATES A SCHOOL FOR BLACK BOYS.

SO, I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT WE ARE NOT EMBRACED IN TERMS OF THE WORK WE ARE DOING WITH THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT IS THE MOST UNDER RESOURCED AND THE DEMOGRAPHIC THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT NEGATIVE STATISTICS, UNFORTUNATELY AT THE TOP.

SO, WE TALK ABOUT THE VIOLENCE AND ANTI-VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES.

URBAN PREP SHOULD BE LOOKED AT AS A PART OF THE STRATEGY IN TERMS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITIES BECAUSE WE HAVE EXPERIENCES AND EXPOSURE FOR OUR YOUNG MEN TO SEE THEMSELVES OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY AND WE ALSO TEACH ABOUT SERVING THE COMMUNITY.

SO WE HAVE MANY EXAMPLES OF COMING BACK AFTER GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE AND SERVING THE COMMUNITY.

>> WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE STATUS OF THE LAWSUIT CURRENTLY?

>> SO NEXT WEEK, THE JUDGE IS ON THE QUEST FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER TO NOT ALLOW CPS TO CONTINUE TO MOVE ON THIS ILLEGAL ACTION, AND THAT IS CLEARLY THE LAW, SO THE JUDGE WILL HEAR THAT.

THE JUDGE WILL MAKE A RULING BY JUNE 13 IN TERMS OF THAT.

AND WE ARE PREPARED, IF IT DOESN'T RULE IN OUR FAVOR FOR OUR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES, WE ARE READY TO GO TO THE APPELLATE COURT REGARDING THIS BECAUSE IT IS A CLEAR ACTION, NO SCHOOL CLOSINGS, PHASEOUTS, CONSOLIDATIONS AT ALL.

AND THIS IS VERY CLEAR.

AND WE ARE A SCHOOL.

SO THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING AT ALL.

AND ESPECIALLY WITH THESE ALLEGATIONS AND NO EVIDENCE.