Lexington girls magnet school in ‘dire situation’ because of school board, parents say

For at least the second time in a year, parents are telling the Fayette County school board the district has forgotten its promises to a magnet program, ignoring overcrowding and other shortcomings in its temporary building.

“Rise (STEM Academy for Girls) is in a dire situation because this board has not acted,” parent Kristin Downs said at Feb. 27 Fayette school board meeting.

Fayette County Public Schools opened the Rise STEM Academy for Girls in the 2020-21 school year to support girls in science, technology, engineering and math. The magnet school, which is housed in the former Linlee Elementary at 2420 Spurr Road, initially taught up to 150 students in grades K-2 and will add a level every year through eighth grade.

The program uses a lottery system and targets economically disadvantaged girls of color, the district website said.

On Thursday, the board is having a retreat focused on the next phase of the district’s facility and construction planning, Fayette school board chairman Tyler Murphy told parents at the February meeting. Members of the community can provide feedback to guide school board members, he said, and the board will keep the community informed.

The Fayette school district has historic equity issues, parent Selvi Jayaraj said. She said when Rise opened in 2020, parents were told they would be in a temporary space for three years. She said the school board had previously approved a plan that construction on a new Rise Academy would be completed in July 2023 on a site to be determined, but has not proceeded.

Parent Monica Mundy said partnerships with professionals in the STEM community have had to be turned away and teachers and families are struggling because of building space limitations.

“We are at the point where these space issues are no longer limitations but inequities impacting our students’ learning and teachers’ well being,” said Mundy. “These inequities place an undue burden on every member of the Rise community.”

Mundy said Rise families left their assigned home schools on the promise that their students would be uplifted and empowered. Instead, she said, “they are forgotten.”

Instead of being excited for a new school building that should be opening this fall, Mundy said, “we are wondering how we can make it one more year in this temporary space.”

She said the school “continues to rise up” despite the constraints.

Parent Dana Kelley said the Rise Academy does not have a library or separate gymnasium. The gym and the cafeteria share the same space, parents say. Kelley said her daughter does not have room to do her work in the classroom. She said girls at the school are not given the same amount of space as boys at the district’s all male magnet school.

“We’ve heard nothing from the district about what the plans are for the new school,” said Kelley, noting that parents are worried about their children’s future.

As teachers have left the school, Rise has cut programs like cross country and Girl Scouts, she said.

“There’s a book shelf that acts as a library and no librarian,” said Downs. She said there are not enough electrical outlets in classrooms to facilitate innovative thinking and use of technology.

“I have pictures of moldy ceiling tiles,” Downs said. She said a live bird got in the building and flew into a classroom. Similar complaints have been made to the school board about Henry Clay High School.

Downs said the building that houses Rise Academy is unsuitable for student use, and parents are frustrated because they’ve received no information about future building plans.

Parents from the Rise Academy expressed similar concerns about the need for a new building at a June 2022 school board meeting.

Last year, Fayette school officials received permission from the state to buy property on Versailles Road.

At that time, state documents said Fayette district officials wanted to build two new schools on the property: A 450-student elementary school and a 900-student girls’ K-8 STEM school. But no decision has been announced by the school district.

This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 11:26 AM.