Multiple members of the Knox County Board of Education who unsuccessfully opposed Knoxville Preparatory School’s approval in April, are continuing to make it more challenging for the public charter school to open.
Knox Prep faced no obstacles working out the details of its charter agreement with district staff, but board members John Butler and Katherine Bike temporarily blocked the contract at last month’s meeting by abstaining on what should have been a routine vote for approval. The board was voting with two members absent and the 4-1 vote came one vote shy of the necessary majority for approval.
Both Bike and Butler were on the losing end of April’s 5-4 vote along with Jennifer Owen who was the lone vote against the charter agreement last month.
The board will make another vote on the contract this Thursday and Tuesday’s work session provided Knox Prep’s opponents with another opportunity to continue to challenge it.
Board member Owen led that challenge by proposing multiple revisions to the charter agreement, including the unusual request of giving Knox County Schools (KCS) the authority to approve any waivers from state requirements the future school might request.
“I think it helps to be clear that if they’re gonna make a waiver request it should be approved,” said Owen.
Any requested waiver would already have to be approved by the state and Knox County Schools Executive Director Theresa Nixon told board members that giving the district additional approval authority would not be a common practice in Tennessee.
Board member Steve Tripplett expressed opposition to that change and Owen said she would support altering the recommendation to simply require Knox Prep to inform the district of waiver requests.
Owen also expressed concerns about other parts of the contract including a change for the public charter school to permanently, instead of temporarily, establish in the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley building on Irwin Street.
“Previously we were told that the school would be there during the day and then in the afternoon it would be the Boys and Girls Club. We are now hearing that the Boys and Girls Club is going to push out into the schools, which is also going to raise our expenses, and that this will be a permanent location for the charter school,” said Owen.
Executive Director of Academic Supports Theresa Nixon addressed this concern, telling board members that Knox Prep will not own the building until it is fully purchased at the end of three years.
The discussion of recommended changes to Knox Prep’s contract additionally attracted a correction from Board Chair Betsy Henderson after Owen repeatedly referred to the future school as a “non-public school.” In Tennessee all charters are considered “public schools” because they’re free to attend and open to any student.
“It was said a couple times in this conversation that you know this is a non-public school,” said Henderson. “The charter schools in Tennessee are public schools, run by KCS. So, I just wanted to clarify that this is a public school in our district.”
Leaders of Knox Prep still need to agree to any changes to the contract school board members make on Thursday.
Knox Preparatory School will be a replication of the all-boys Chattanooga Preparatory School in Hamilton County. This school will serve grades six through twelve and will be the county’s second public charter school.
