Melissa Bailey File Photo
Morrison.
Michael Sharpe, the man Rev. Eldren Morrison chose to help open a charter school in New Haven, has left his position in a cloud of deceit. Morrison said he’s sticking with that man’s model of schooling.
Sharpe, CEO of the organization that runs the Jumoke charter schools in Hartford, resigned Saturday in the wake of revelations about his criminal past.
Sharpe (pictured) also confessed Friday he had lied for years about being a doctor of education and graduating from New York University, according to the Hartford Courant.
Morrison, pastor of Varick Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Newhallville, recruited Sharpe to New Haven to help start a new charter school, the Booker T. Washington Academy. Morrison hired Sharpe’s organization, Family Urban Schools of Education (FUSE), to run the school with state funding. FUSE, which runs three Jumoke Academy charter schools, is also managing state-funded turnaround schools in Bridgeport and Hartford.
Sharpe’s troubles emerged in a series of articles in the Hartford Courant last week, in which Hartford and state officials said they were unaware of Sharpe’s past imprisonment for embezzling public money.
Morrison on Friday stood by Sharpe. So did the Northeast Charter Schools Network, which issued an op-ed defending Sharpe and made plans to mobilize troops to rally behind him on Monday at Jumoke Academy.
Sharpe’s fate took a turn for the worse at the end of the week, when he acknowledged to the Courant that he had never received a doctorate in education, nor graduated from New York University, despite claiming those titles for years in published literature and in remarks to the state legislature.
Sharpe submitted a resignation letter Saturday to the FUSE Board of Directors. He said he intends to “return to school to complete my graduate studies.”
“I will continue to be a voice for children of color in urban centers, albeit in a different realm,” he wrote.
Jeff Digel, member of FUSE’s board, released a statement on behalf of the board accepting Sharpe’s immediate resignation.
“Mr. Sharpe has served as an example of how one can turn personal adversity into lessons for others, and we as a community are grateful for his service on behalf of urban students and families. The schools in which Mr. Sharpe has been involved are helping turn lives around and his impact will be felt for decades to come, in the lives that have been changed through these schools.”
Reached Monday, Pastor Morrison said he still will schedule a meeting of his charter school board to address the matter. The date has not yet been set.
Morrison declined to comment at length about FUSE before informing his board members and supporters. But he said Booker T. Washington Academy would keep “the FUSE model.”
“I am still clear of what I’m doing in terms of standing by the FUSE model. Dr. Sharpe resigned, but the FUSE model is solid. That’s where we are,” he said.