We just need a little more time.

That message anchored defenses mounted by Creative City Public Charter School and Southwest Baltimore Charter School Thursday night. Baltimore City Public Schools has recommended that both schools close at the end of the school year and that their charters should not be renewed.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated, must receive a charter from the school board to operate. Leaders from Creative City and Southwest defended their schools to the board ahead of its final vote on Jan. 14, arguing that they deserve a three-year renewal to show improvement.

Traci Johnson Mathena said her school isn’t perfect — but that doesn’t mean it should close. The principal and executive director of Creative City said the last school year was an anomaly for the elementary school, which has 210 students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade.

“The first two years of our contract, we had improvement in academics, we had improvement in school climate, we had improvement in fiscal management,” Johnson Mathena said in an interview prior to Thursday’s presentation. “It’s a three-year contract. And it seems like one year is making it appear as if we are not serving our students in our community.”

The school’s last renewal was granted under the condition that it improve its annual standardized test scores, among other stipulations. While the school raised its third through fifth grade language arts scores 10 percentage points between 2019 and 2022, scores have fallen each year since, the school system noted in its recommendation to revoke the charter. While math scores improved in previous years, they fell again in 2024.

But the school is on track to meet its goals and show improvement this year, Johnson Mathena said, and “one year of a challenge should not negate the progress we have made.” She said the school noticed its academic gaps and started to course correct before the district made its closure recommendation.

Academics are also the school system’s primary concern at Southwest. Board Chair Robert Salley raised concerns about the school’s 2-star status on the Maryland School Report Card, which is also the rating for Creative City.

Timothy Smith, the charter’s executive director, said he and the school’s principal are only in their second year on the job. Smith said the hard work they’ve put in so far is starting to pay off; for example, the school is at 93% attendance so far this school year, Principal Nina Johnson said. That progress will continue if the school stays open for the 363 students enrolled across pre-K through eighth grade, Smith said.

“We think we deserve a three-year renewal to continue the work that we’ve done over the last year and a half,” Smith said.

Smith said it’s “tough to stomach” the idea of the school closing and its building being left as just another vacant in the Washington Village/Pigtown area. Southwest has been around for 20 years.

Community members can tell the board how they feel about these potential closings at virtual meetings on Dec. 12 and Jan. 9.

Many are already gearing up to defend both charters — and one small traditional school — from closure. Johnson Mathena gave her presentation with students and families gathered behind her and Pamela Green, a Creative City fourth grader, seated at her side. Pamela told board members her school has helped her academically with teachers and staff that make her feel like her thoughts and feelings are important.

“I believe that my schoolmates and I and students in the future should continue to have the opportunity to attend Creative City,” Pamela said.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.