Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth considers himself to be supportive of public charter schools and he has a lengthy history of voting in favor of charter legislation.
Still, Tuesday morning, Representative Lamberth found himself at a podium speaking out against his county’s first proposed public charter school to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.
“High-quality charter schools bring a lot to communities that definitely need them,” said Representative Lamberth. “I’m asking the board at this point to deny this application. That’s my request to you and really it boils down to this. They’ve done a great job in Texas, they may do a great job in other communities, but this particular school has just not shown that they can add to the educational quality of our district.”
Representative Lamberth was one of several people speaking out against Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville at a public hearing for its charter application appeal Tuesday. Sumner County Schools denied the school’s application in July and administrators appealed to the charter commission to overturn that vote.
Del Rey Education and Responsive Education Solutions joined together to file the application of Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville and a related public charter school in Williamson County that’s also under appeal.
The proposed school in Sumner County would serve up to 618 students in 2024 and eventually grow to serve as many as 906 Kindergarten through 12th grade students with a classical education model curriculum focusing on:
- Civility and self-government are clearly taught through all course content.
- Core and Fine Arts curriculum is knowledge-rich and built around the belief that there is a common body of knowledge that all members of society should master.
- Emphasis is placed on minds-on learning and fosters a spirit of inquiry.
- Literacy is taught through explicit phonics, traditional grammar, and composition.
- Logic and rhetoric are emphasized in the middle and upper school grades.
- Greek and Latin root words are taught in 3rd grade through 6th grade, and Latin begins in 7th grade. Students will take at least two years of Latin.
- Math and science are pursued for knowledge, and not merely for their practical applications.
- Literature and history are rooted in primary sources and great books.
Del Rey Education Board Treasurer Mitch Emoff told the charter commission this classical education model has resulted in more than 90% of students scoring at or above grade level in other Founders Classical Academy schools.
Sumner County Schools has one magnet school that also uses a classical education model but it’s unavailable to many parents.
“A lot of families are turning to home schooling as a result of dissatisfaction with what their current situation is in Sumner County Schools,” said Emoff. “Half the students are scored with the state testing as below grade level. More than half and we know that Merrol Hyde is at capacity and only available to qualified students.”
Several parents echoed the need for another education choice in the county including Joanna Daniels.
“This school is a choice for parents that desire their children to be taught the things that this charter school will be teaching,” said Daniels. “Sumner County might be better than another county but they’re still failing the children.”
Sumner County Schools Chief Academic Officer Scott Langford pushed back, telling the commission the district received no letters of support from parents or any other evidence of community support for the proposed public charter school.
Langford also said Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville’s application failed to provide enough special education and English language learner teachers, adequate financing, or a viable plan to operate a school by August 2024.
“In our estimation at this time to enter into a charter agreement with Founders Classical Academy is not in the best interest of Sumner County Schools, Sumner County students, Sumner County parents, or Sumner County residents,” said Langford.
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission plans to decide appeals for the Founders Classical Academy of Brentwood and the Founds Classical Academy of Hendersonville in a meeting October 17.
