The Wake County Board of Education has approved an agreement with Shaw University for the university to run the school system's two leadership academies, which would make Shaw the first permanent provider since the board cut ties with Saint Augustine's University last year.

The school board approved the memorandum of agreement 7-0. Shaw's board will need to approve the agreement next for it to go into place.

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The school system has the Wake Young Men's Leadership Academy and the Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy. Both are early college high schools, meaning they receive additional state funding and support for students to take college courses and earn up to an associate's degree while still in high school. Students apply to attend.

Shaw University President Paulette R. Dillard told the board the academies' leadership mission fits in "with what we already do in the community."

"We can't wait, and we think you're going to be very pleased with your experience at Shaw University," Dillard said.

The Raleigh schools had been partnered with Saint Augustine's University since their founding, until complaints from students and others about the quality of the education prompted the school board to cut ties with the university. The university, which has faced financial and accreditation challenges, has been teaching courses virtually to students, who took them from the university's library.

This school year, leadership academy students are taking courses from Wake Tech Community College's North Raleigh campus, while district leaders have been working out a new permanent partner.

Seydric Williams, the district's northwestern area superintendent overseeing the leadership academies, thanked the academies' families and students for their patience as the district navigated finding a new partner.

The new, five-year memorandum of agreement with Shaw University would cost the district $70,000 annually, paid to Shaw to hire an early college liaison to work with the academies and school system. It also includes an $8 per student, per credit hour administrative fee. The state funds students' tuition and technology fees.

Students would attend Shaw classes starting in the 11th grade and could do so for up to three years