SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy has lost its charter and must halt instruction by the end of the year — a first-time penalty for a Mississippi charter school.
The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board voted unanimously on Monday to revoke the Canton school’s charter. Two board members, Candace Robbins and Marcy Scoggins, were absent.
While other charter schools have been cited for breaking federal education law and violating the terms of their contract, no other school has been ordered to effectively shut its doors.
Hearing officer Kim Turner asks questions during a hearing about SR1 on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayKim Turner, an assistant attorney general who serves as state agencies director in the attorney general’s office, recommended the board revoke the school’s charter because of numerous instances of noncompliance with federal law, state law and the terms of its 2020 contract.
The authorizer board had waited four months, since a related May 14 hearing Turner presided over, to take action.
The evidence presented during that hearing affirmed a “statutory and contractual basis” for revoking the school’s charter, Turner concluded in her recommendation. “Such a decision would be neither arbitrary nor capricious.”
Earlier in the meeting, Dorlisa Hutton, an SR1 administrator and wife of Chief Executive Officer Tamu Green, made a final plea before board members moved to vote on the fate of the school.
READ MORE: Charter school in Canton opened with a STEM focus but no full-time STEM teachers. It has had many more problems
Hutton asked the board to hold off on a final decision until the school’s latest audit was available — an alternative action Turner had suggested. Hutton also asked the board to return the school to good standing. She asked the board to release $300,000 in charter school start-up funding, which had been frozen pending the vote on the school’s fate.
Dorlisa Hutton, vanguard ambassador for SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy, speaks at the Dec. 8, 2025 meeting of the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board Meeting in Jackson. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi TodayReturning the school to good standing would mean “we can build the facilities our students deserve and bring to the table the bankers and partners who are ready to invest in Canton,” Hutton said. “And it means the chance for Mississippi’s first college prep and STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] charter school serving children of whom nearly nine and 10 are economically disadvantaged to become the first charter school in this state to earn an A.”
Hutton did not respond to questions from Mississippi Today about whether the school planned to appeal.
Jamie Travis, an attorney for the charter school, suggested in May he would pursue an appeal process if the authorizer board voted to revoke the school’s charter. The appeal should be directed to the Hinds County Chancery Court, Turner said, which is where the board is based.
The board’s vote ends a process that began in December, when the authorizer board reviewed the school’s financial statements, which showed SR1 CPSA had one day’s cash on hand. The school had also overprojected its enrollment each year since it opened in 2023.
SR1 CPSA was the only charter to face revocation twice. The authorizer board first cited the school for requesting money to serve 150 students, but enrolling 12. The school spent $816,725 that year, which would break down to about $68,060 per student – five times what the average Mississippi school district spends.
“The record established this revocation proceeding did not arise from one isolated event. Rather, these proceedings were initiated following years of notice, monitoring intervention, corrective action, and requests for and production of documents,” Turner found.
Students head to waiting vehicles and school buses after classes end for the day at SR1 College Preparatory and Stem Academy, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Canton. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodaySince then, the school’s fate has been in limbo, which also affected its funding.
The board could not act without a recommendation from Turner. That board received that recommendation on Oct. 6.
Regulators had reason to worry about the school’s future. A disorganized business office and an allegedly unsafe cafeteria were just some red flags that came up during inspections by authorizer board employees. Visits from other agency inspectors soon followed.
Green severely mismanaged the school, charter board attorney Dillon Pitts argued at the May hearing. Also at the hearing, Green said his “unwritten rule” of management was: “we just spent.” He claimed to not know that school records had to present the best financial snapshot by the end of the fiscal year.
Tamu Green, CEO of SR1, confers with Dorlisa Hutton, chief operations officer and vice president for SR1 College Preparatory and STEM Academy, during a hearing about SR1 on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayThe school was also out of compliance with federal food safety and nutrition guidelines.
A Mississippi Today investigation found school leadership tried to deceive regulators before inspections by moving furniture and other supplies on site and retagging them. Former employees accused SR1 leadership of deceptive business practices.
The school has experienced significant turnover as well. The school’s top administrator resigned at the end of September, after starting in August. The school is on its third business manager in less than a year.
SR1 CPSA could still reopen as a private school.
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