The Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education sent another sign Tuesday night that public charter schools will not have an easy time making their case in Music City.
The board outright voted down two new charter school applications from KIPP Nashville and a single school proposal for Saber STEM Academy.
Perhaps even more controversially, the board landed one vote shy of having enough votes to deny a charter request from the Tennessee Nature Academy to operate a charter school in southeast Davidson County. With several members absent, the board voted 4 to 2 in favor of denial and will now have to hold another vote later this month to determine the future of the proposed charter.
Board members took that vote despite having what Tennessee Nature Academy supporters say was an incomplete report from the charter evaluation team who admitted it’s possible they may not have read new information in the amended charter application because it wasn’t highlighted.
“It’s not fair,” said board member Fran Bush. “This is not the first, second, third time I’ve heard this from these charter applications that eventually we get it wrong and then go to the state and they appeal it and they were right.”
Bush was among the two board members to vote in favor of the Tennessee Nature Academy’s charter application but some of those who voted against it, questioned whether southeast Davidson County needs another school.
“As much as I think Tennessee Nature Academy sounds interesting,” said board member Rachael Elrod. “It is concerning to me that the seats are simply not needed. In our district, my goal is to do what’s best for all of our students. Not just some of our students.”
Administrators with the Tennessee Nature Academy were visibly upset by the entire process. They claim the charter review team made 18 incorrect statements in their recommendation against the Tennessee Nature Academy.
Those statements include findings the proposed charter says incorrectly portray its ability to provide adequate funding, pupil-teacher ratios, Algebra I for 8th graders, student achievement gap solutions, and accessibility for students with disabilities among other needs.
“Your report was un-factual, it was sloppy, it was biased, it was highly speculative at best,” said Tennessee Nature Academy Director Roy Renfro. “I’m supported behind me by dozens of people who came out thinking this application would have an equitable and serious conversation. That begins with an equitable and a serious report which we did not receive.”
If the Board of Education ends up voting the Tennessee Nature Academy’s application down, its administrators, along with those from KIPP Nashville and Saber Stem Academy, would all have the option of appealing to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.
Knowledge Academy Uncertainty
Last month that commission overturned a prior MNPS board decision against charter operator Knowledge Academies to consolidate its three schools under one charter.
The charter operator requested consolidation after MNPS denied a charter renewal for Knowledge Academy Middle School. Consolidation would allow families with children who’ve been attending Knowledge Academy Middle School to remain with the charter during the 2022/2023 school year.
The MNPS Board of Education denied Knowledge Academies’ request and administrators appealed to the Tennessee Charter Commission.
“My advice to Metro Nashville is to quit playing games, communicate with your schools, make sure they have the information. If there is a legitimate concern with a school, we will hear that,” said Tennessee Charter Commissioner Eddie Smith in last month’s hearing. “Quit discriminating on these public schools just because you don’t like them.”
The commission’s decision in favor of Knowledge Academies last month remanded the request back to MNPS for approval.
That could have happened at Tuesday night’s meeting, but MNPS board members chose to defer taking action so the district could evaluate options for a legal appeal.
The delay means more than 100 families who attend Knowledge Academy Middle School will have to wait until at least next month to know where their children are attending school next year.
