Charter Commission accuses school district of “playing games” during appeal of American Classical Academy

Members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission unanimously overturned a decision by the Jackson-Madison County School Board Thursday and questioned how “serious” district leaders were taking the process.

Those comments came during Thursday’s successful appeal by American Classical Education to open the first public charter school in Madison County. School board members initially rejected ACE’s application to open American Classical Academy – Jackson-Madison (ACAJM) in July citing 74 deficiencies.

The district didn’t send anyone to attend Thursday’s appeal hearing in Nashville and Commissioner Alan Levine criticized that decision, saying it makes it look as though the district isn’t taking the process seriously.

“I really did want to hear from the school system. I had legitimate concerns, some of them have been articulated and I had questions for them. Without them being here to answer those questions, it sort of says a lot to me as a commissioner,” said Levine.

Levine wasn’t the only commissioner with criticism.Commissioner Eddie Smith accused the district of “playing games” by not engaging with commissioners who had questions about its reasons for denying ACE’s application.

“I think reading proficiency in Jackson is 17 percent, 13 percent below the state average. Math is at 10 percent. That’s 18 percent below the state average, compared to my county of Knox,” said Smith. “But I think what it’s showing is that school system hasn’t adequately met the needs of students in those communities which is why they’re looking at this.”

Representatives for local education agencies (LEA) are able to make a two-minute comment during the final hearing and Jackson-Madison County isn’t the only district that only sent a written statement to commissioners.

Following the unanimous decision to approve ACE’s appeal, Jackson-Madison County School System Board Attorney Dale Thomas released a statement blasting the charter commission and claimed commissioners themselves appeared to not understand their rules.Thomas cited commission policy and Executive Director Tess Stovall’s comments that district representatives would not be allowed to answer questions. He says that’s why Jackson-Madison County only provided a written statement.

“Director Stovall told the Commission that if the Commission wanted to change the process to allow for questions and answers, then it could consider that for future hearings. It was obvious that the Commission members were not aware of its own procedural rules.” said Thomas. “If the Commission really wanted answers to its questions, it could have tabled its decision, waived its limitations on a response from JMCSS, and give JMCSS an opportunity to respond to its concerns about the Application.”

ACE Denied in Maury County

The commission also unanimously voted to deny ACE’s appeal in Maury County to open American Classical Academy – Maury (ACAM).

That decision followed the recommendation of Executive Director Stovall who acknowledged the demand for a public charter school in Maury County but found deficiencies in the lack of a targeted community and location along with a lack of a school leader.

“I completely agree that Maury County is a growing district. It seems to have a need. It seems to have a parent demand generally for an option other than a traditional public school. I think it’s an area where a public charter school could be a great option, but we have to assess whether or not the application is ready to go as written currently,” said Stovall.

American Classical Education initially applied to open schools in five different Tennessee counties. The organization received approval in Rutherford County and chose only to appeal denials in Maury County and Madison County.

ACE promises to provide a Classical education model to students though its connections to Hillsdale College have brought highly publicized opposition.