Representative Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, provided Metro Nashville Public Schools with some eyebrow raising advice on the House floor Thursday.
Mitchell suggested the district bulldoze vacant or underutilized buildings, like the former Hillwood High School campus, before letting public charter schools use them. The district stopped utilizing the Hillwood property as a school when the new James Lawson High School opened last August.
“I have a new high school in my community, the old property is not being used. Probably the most valuable piece of property in Davidson County right now,” said Mitchell. “I suggest to Metro bulldoze it before you ever give it to them.”
Mitchell’s comments came during debate on a bill to make it easier for public charter schools to utilize vacant buildings.
In Tennessee public charter schools serve a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged and students of color than traditional public schools and less than 14 percent of Nashville’s charter students are white according to the Tennessee Comptroller.
Those charters are increasingly facing a facility funding gap that disproportionately impacts the historically marginalized students they serve. Charters do not receive local funding like traditional public schools and a recent report by the organization ExcelinEd found current state funding is only meeting 50 percent of charter facility needs. This gap is expected to grow to just 42 percent of facility needs met in five years as more families choose to send their children to public charter schools.
Supporters say new legislation that’s expected to head to Governor Bill Lee’s desk soon will go a long way towards helping by requiring local school districts that have public charter schools in them to provide a list of vacant and underutilized buildings on an annual basis. Under the bill, school districts would additionally be required to make those properties available to public charter schools at a fair market value and give charters a first right of refusal for either purchase or lease.
“This legislation is focused on addressing one of the biggest challenges for our public charter schools,” said bill sponsor Representative Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville. “This option would provide charter schools with access to space that was designed for school use and already financed with taxpayer dollars for traditional public school students.”
Representative Mitchell has been a frequent critic of charters despite testing data that shows the schools outperforming comparable traditional public schools in his community. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency.
Mitchell joined 21 Democrats and 5 Republicans who voted against the facility bill. The House ultimately passed it comfortably on a 63 to 26 vote.
The legislation passed the Senate in February with just one vote in opposition.
Representative Jody Barrett joins Democrats in opposition
Representative Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, was among the five Republicans who joined with Democrats to oppose the bill Thursday and he was the only one who chose to speak out against it.
Barrett appeared to misunderstand how the first right of refusal process would work and expressed concern that the legislation would allow charter operators to renegotiate the price of property down.
“I can’t support the bill because we’re allowing these charter school organizations to come in and interfere with the negotiation that’s already been done so that an LEA can’t get the highest and best dollar for the property,” said Barrett.
Representative Williams pushed back on Barrett’s comments saying the legislation’s right of first refusal wouldn’t give charters the right to undercut another offer.
“If you have buyer A who’s been working the LEA and they are 10 percent over fair market value, then all it says is the charter has the ability to buy it at that rate or higher. They get the opportunity to say no or to refuse at that rate,” said Williams. “I’m not trying to be divisive or argumentative, I just don’t agree with your synopsis of what the first right of refusal in this agreement means.”
If approved by Governor Lee, the legislation would not require school districts to sell or lease property if leaders don’t want to. District also have a right of first refusal to buy property back if public charter schools no longer need it.
