The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted unanimously to deny two appeals Monday that would have paved the way for the first public charter schools in Sumner and Williamson County.
Two organizations, Del Rey Education and Responsive Education Solutions, joined together to apply to open Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville and Founders Classical Academy of Brentwood earlier this year. School board members in Sumner and Williamson County voted both down in July and the groups appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission hoping to overturn those decisions.
Both proposed schools would serve up to 618 students initially and eventually grow to serve as many as 906 Kindergarten through 12th grade students with a Classical Education model.
In denying each appeal, commissioners cited a lack of understanding of Tennessee law and academic standards, as well as the lack of preparedness to serve the communities they proposed.
Both applications projected just 2% of their enrollment consisting of students with disabilities, and only 1% consisting of English Language Learners (ELL). These percentages don’t align with the current community data and ultimately left commissioners feeling that Founders was unprepared and uninterested in serving the communities proposed.
Additionally, commissioners were concerned that both schools projected the same special education and ELL percentages despite being in completely different counties and serving different communities. While both districts are in Middle Tennessee, the demographics of Williamson and Sumner County are different and require differing services to best serve the needs of their students.
Before voting, commissioners heard from families who supported the appeals and the Classic Education model both academies would bring. Some parents also cited a desire for more school choice in counties that currently don’t have public charter schools.
“School choice only exists for those who can afford private school,” said one mother who called this fact “elitist.”
In voting both appeals down, commissioners sided with their Executive Director Tess Stovall who recommended upholding both district denials. Stovall argued both academies simply lacked a grasp of the community they were looking to serve, in addition to not effectively demonstrating understanding of Tennessee law governing school operations, finance, and academic standards.
Stovall commended Founders for using ResponsiveEd, a quality charter management organization to help operate the schools and recognized the success of the non-profit operator in Texas and Arkansas, but ultimately stated that their future in this state will be contingent upon better demonstrating their understanding of Tennessee education law, especially related to special populations.
