When members of the Metro Nashville School Board voted 8 to 1 to close Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary School last November, one factor was the public charter school’s request to lower its enrollment target by 60 students.
The district rated the school as partially meeting state requirements in part because of that request, and it’s among the reasons why school board members opted against approving the school’s charter renewal application.
Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) attorney Rachel Suppe reiterated the point last week at a public hearing for the school’s appeal of the decision.
“Despite its initial goals for attracting and retaining students and staff, the school still struggles with student and staff attrition. Yet the renewal application was silent on strategies to improve in any of these three areas,” said Suppe.
What the district didn’t say to the public at November’s school board meeting or at Thursday’s appeal hearing, was that Rocketship asked for the change to better serve students with special needs.
“We requested in the appeal application to lower the enrollment target to 525 students because if we filled that building, we would not have the pull-out spaces to properly service our special education students or to properly service our ELL (English language learners) population,” said Rocketship Tennessee Executive Director William Hill. “So our goal is not simply to pack our building with as many kids as possible, our goal is to deliver a world class education to the families who are already committed to us. If that means sometimes, we have to adjust to make sure that we can meet the needs of our community, we happily do so.”
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission will consider the reasons behind the enrollment request along with public comments from Thursday’s hearing later this month to decide whether to grant Rocketship’s appeal and override the school board’s decision. A denial would effectively close Rocketship and force its students to find another school, while a decision in favor of the appeal would grant the school another ten-year charter.
Rocketship families packed the hearing in matching purple t-shirts to show support for the appeal. Fifth-grade student Shamya Sherrod was among those who chose to speak about what the school means to her.
“I might be young, but I know things that should and should not happen,” said Sherrod. “You should see how great we are. If this school closes, I will feel sad because it’s my first school. I want this school to be able to help my sister as it helped me.”
Four parents also spoke in favor of the appeal, including Robin Griffin. She moved her twin sons to Rocketship after attending a traditional public school because she believed the boys needed something different.
“We came to Rocketship because I wanted a school where my kids would feel safe and we would feel part of the community. When walking into the building the staff know who I am and they also know my twin boys. I don’t feel like my children are just another number,” said Griffin.
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission also heard from former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. The former mayor says he recruited Rocketship to Nashville because he felt it offered an innovative model to support students at risk of dropping out.
“I believed that our city could benefit from their focus on closing achievement gaps for historically disadvantaged communities, and since arriving in Nashville 10 years ago Rocketship has stayed true to their mission,” said Dean. “The families attending Rocketship Nashville Northeast have a school that believes in their children’s abilities and in their potential.”
Fair Comparison?
The most recent state academic performance data shows Rocketship outperformed every other elementary school in the Maplewood school cluster in Math and English language arts and only one elementary school scored higher proficiency rates in science.
Rocketship Nashville Northeast has additionally scored in the highest or second highest category for student growth every year it’s been open and it received the third highest grade of any elementary school in the Maplewood cluster on this year’s School Letter Grades.
Despite that, some MNPS board members chose to utilize districtwide comparisons to make the decision that involve comparing Rocketship to schools that are less diverse and more wealthy located outside northeast Nashville to make the case Rocketship hasn’t proven it’s doing a better job than the district.
District staff defended that decision to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission saying public charter schools are expected to ensure students reach proficiency regardless of how other district schools are performing. The district also told the commission Rocketship has had concerning issues with chronic absenteeism and its charter renewal request lacked critical information and goals.
“If this lackluster effort is how Rocketship treats when an application where their existence is on the line, how can the MNPS board or the commission expect them to put more effort into the students if they are renewed,” said Suppe. “Rocketship’s application left many questions unanswered regarding what this school will look like and how it will function if renewed.”
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission is scheduled to vote on Rocketship’s appeal January 26.
