Charter Commission director backs proposed public charter schools in Nashville, Memphis and Jackson

Four proposed public charter schools in Memphis, Nashville, and Jackson are all receiving new support from a key state board leader.Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall recommended commissioners approve those schools’ appeals at two meetings later this week.Stovall is supporting the appeals from Invictus Nashville Charter School, Nashville Collegiate Prep High School, American Classical Academy – Madison, and Empower Memphis Career and College Prep while opposing appeals from Pathways in Education – Memphis, and American Classical Academy – Maury.School board members in Shelby, Madison, Maury, and Davidson Counties denied the applications from the proposed public charter school earlier this year.  Under state law, each has the option to appeal to commission to overturn the denial.Notably with these recommendations, Stovall took specific aim at a questionable method school districts across the state used this year to deny charter applications based on the estimated negative fiscal impact.Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education for example denied both Invictus and Nashville Collegiate in part because of an alleged fiscal impact the district calculated based on the projected number of students at the schools against the average funding the district would receive for them. MNPS did not evaluate any potential savings from students switching to the new schools and determined the negative impact would be a little more than $1.1 million for each proposed school.Charter commission staff evaluated historical district data and found no evidence the alleged fiscal impact from the schools would prevent MNPS from being financially stable as the district argued.“The district regularly manages to sustain its operations and financial sustainability despite enrollment fluctuations above and beyond the impact of opening the proposed charter school. Moreover, the information contained within the past three (3) years of audits reinforces the fact that MNPS’ financial position has continued to increase, despite fluctuations in enrollment,” wrote Stovall.Stovall took a similar approach when reviewing the alleged negative fiscal impact school board members in Madison and Maury County used to deny applications from American Classical Academy (ACE). The commission executive director found both districts are capable of handling any enrollment fluctuations created by a new public charter school, and she questioned the detail of Maury County’s analysis.“There is a lack of evidence within the record that the Maury County Board of Education calculated and deliberated on the substantial negative fiscal impact that the opening of the school would cause the district,” wrote Stovall.Both applications from ACE were similar and Stovall made it a point to explain the reason why she's recommending a denial in Maury County and an approval in Madison.  She says that recommendation comes because of two key strengths that make the application in Madison County stronger."The first strength is an identified school leader who has experience in the academic model and has expertise to implement the academic, operational, and financial plans outlined in the application. The second strength is an identified community within Madison County where the sponsor proposes to locate the school," said Stovall.During its brief history the commission has generally followed Stovall’s recommendations with two exceptions.  Stovall recommended denials for the Tennessee Nature Academy last year and for Rutherford Collegiate Prep in 2021.  Commissioners ended up approving both schools.The appeals up for consideration at hearings Thursday and Friday include a diverse mix of public charter school options.

Empower Memphis

Empower Memphis would serve K-8 students in Orange Mound and South Memphis with a career and technical education model (CTE) designed to provide students with academic and technical skills for careers through hands-on training and experience.Former Memphis educator Muna Olaniyi founded Empower Memphis and aims to disrupt the cycle of poverty in Orange Mound and South Memphis.

Pathways in Education – Memphis

Pathways in Education (PIE) aims to serve Memphis students with a unique flexible hybrid schedule that’s designed to serve at-risk students, specifically those who have dropped out.  PIE believes the model will especially benefit a growing number of students who are more than two years off their target graduation date.The organization currently operates eight public charter schools across the country and previously oversaw a public charter school in Memphis under the state’s Achievement School District from 2014 to 2022.

Invictus Nashville

Former Metro Nashville Public School graduate Dr. Brenda Jones is hoping to make history by being the first MNPS grad and teacher to create a public charter school in Nashville.  Her proposed K-8 Invictus Nashville Charter School would serve the Donelson and Hermitage area of Davidson County with an innovative Montessori curriculum and mentoring model that also includes project-based learning.The zone currently has just one public charter school and no Montessori middle school.

Nashville Collegiate Prep High School

Nashville Collegiate Prep High School aims to cater to the growth of Southeast Nashville in Davidson County. The school would eventually serve up to 600 students in grades 9-12 with unique pathways in art and technology, with a target focus on a large at-risk population of students.Nashville Collegiate currently serves elementary and middle school students and the proposed high school would be an expansion of that program.

ACE Maury and ACE Jackson-Madison

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.Neither Maury nor Madison County has an existing public charter school.