Freedom and Democracy Schools

The foundation operated Northwood Appold Community Academy in Baltimore, a school based on a social-justice curriculum that received a $1.5 million federal education grant after allegedly misrepresenting test scores and suspension information on its application. ³ After receiving the federal grant, the school was shut down; the group’s other charter school closed in 2020.  ^{4  5  6  3}

Activities and Controversy

Freedom and Democracy Schools Inc. began as a project of Cecil Gray, a professor who taught African-American Studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania to support education in poor communities. The foundation did business as Northwood Appold Community Academy (NACA) in Baltimore. As of roughly 2016, the school reported having 510 students from kindergarten through 12^th grade, 81 percent of whom were low-income. The foundation reported 100 percent of these low-income students were African-American. ^{2  1}

The school’s goal was to create “academically, intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically proficient” students through a “culturally relevant” curriculum, which includes the teaching of “non-violent social justice principles.” ²

Fox 45 Baltimore reported that in 2017, the foundation and its school received  a $1.5 million federal grant for charter schools. Only 17 charter schools in the nation received such an expansion grant from the Department of Education. In the application for the grant, the school claimed to have reading scores eight points higher than the state average, yet according to Fox 45 Baltimore, Maryland State Department of Education records showed the school’s reading scores were 15 points below average. Likewise, NACA claimed to have math scores six points above average, when the school’s scores were eight points below average. Additionally, NACA reported only seven suspensions in five years before the grant, when the school had 51 suspensions. After receiving the federal grant, the school was shut down by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners. ⁴

People

Cecil Gray was president of Freedom and Democracy Schools Foundation Inc. ⁵ In 2019, Gray received $142,544 from the foundation.  ⁶ Gray previously taught African and African-American Studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and wrote Afrocentric Thought and Praxis: An Intellectual History, a book about the activist tradition of African people. ^{7  2}

Geneva Ferguson was the secretary and treasurer of Freedom and Democracy Schools Foundation Inc. ⁵

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2020, Freedom and Democracy Schools Foundation Inc. reported $21,700 in revenue, $155,175 in expenses, and $54,108 in assets.  ⁵ In 2019, the foundation reported $191,345 in revenue, $346,407 in expenses, and $187,583 in assets. ⁶

In 2020, the group spent $15,557 to improve educational performance of students in poor communities. ⁵ That was a decrease from the $339,805 the foundation spent on the same priority in 2019. ⁶

A significant source of the organization’s funding is derived from gifts, grants, and contributions. In 2020, the entirety of the foundation’s $21,700 in revenue came from gifts, grants, and contributions; in 2019, $8,345 was received from those sources; and in 2018 $611,708 was received from those sources.  ⁵ The foundation’s sizeable 2018 grant reportedly came from the federal government, and the organization reported receiving $470,508 from government grants that year. ^{4  8}