A Georgia man who founded a charter school to steer young Black men away from violence and gang culture reportedly said members of the Dougherty County School System won’t sell him a school already abandoned.

That man, King Randall, said school system officials won’t sell him the school unless he agrees to adopt the public school system’s curriculum.

This, according to the Georgia-based Foundation for Economic Education, which profiled Randall this week. FEE, according to its website, is a liberty-minded 501(c)3.

Randall and members of the Dougherty County School System did not return The Georgia Star News’ requests for comment before Wednesday’s stated deadline.

FEE said Randall is a 21-year-old Christian and Marine veteran from Albany, Georgia who started “The X for Boys” school.

“After negotiating with the public school board to buy the building for $500,000—a steep price to pay for a building scheduled for demolition—Randall received a contract with the stipulation that he must use the public school curriculum instead of his own. Last month, as a guest onLawrence B. Jones’ show on FOX Primetime, Randall claimed that the Dougherty County School System refused to donate or sell the abandoned building with no curriculum requirements attached to The X for Boys due to ‘competition,’” FEE reported.

“Randall alleged that a board administrator told him that his organization, which holds the motto ‘Make men great again,’ is seen as ‘competition,’ which is why he was against simply donating the school building. However, Dougherty County may have reason to fear competition from private schools such as Randall’s. Dougherty County Public Schools areranked in the bottom 50 percent of all 212 school districts in the state of Georgia based off of 2017-2018 math and reading proficiency data.” 

Randall uploaded a YouTube video and said “The X for Boys” school has an 86 percent reading comprehension rate, a 91 percent improvement in grades, an 82 percent proficiency rate in general contracting, and a 0 percent recidivism rate.

“The X for Boys” school, according to its website, offers automotive repair workshops, home improvement workshops, and reading literacy programs.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].