Jackson-Madison County seeks legal action to stop its first public charter school from opening

James “Pete” Johnson (center) and other members of the Jackson-Madison County School Board (Photo by Jackson-Madison County School System)

The Jackson-Madison School Board is considering court action to prevent the county’s first public charter school from opening.

Board members voted Monday morning to pursue a legal challenge of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s decision to approve an appeal from American Classical Education (ACE) earlier this month.  That decision overturned the district’s denial of ACE’s application in July.

“This has been a long, frustrating process. We were crystal clear and very deliberate in following the state’s guidelines and rules during the entire process. So, we stand behind our decision,” said School Board Chairman James “Pete” Johnson.

ACE first gained attention last year when Governor Bill Lee expressed support for the organization in his State of the State address, but the group faced criticism over its connections to Michigan based Hillsdale College and controversial statements Hillsdale President Larry Arnn made about teachers on video.

The organization withdrew its bid to open three public charter schools last year following public outcry over the connections to Arnn and Hillsdale but returned this year with applications in five counties including Madison. Only Rutherford County School Board members approved ACE’s application.Jackson-Madison County School Board members denied the application on a 5-1 vote following a district review that found 74 deficiencies.  ACE appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission where multiple commissioners accused Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS) of not taking the process seriously because the district failed to send anyone to the appeal hearing.

The district pushed back, claiming commissioners don’t know their own rules. JMCSS Board Attorney Dale Thomas also made the case commissioners treated the district differently than others.

“Jackson-Madison County School System has voiced concerns about the inconsistencies in the treatment of the ACAJM (American Classical Academy Jackson-Madison) application when compared to the way the Public Charter School Commission, on the same day, treated an almost identical application of ACE in Maury County,” said Thomas. “Jackson-Madison County School System has also voiced concerns about the commission’s failure to understand and follow its own procedural rules and handling of the application. For these reasons, the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education has authorized attorneys to investigate and research what potential legal remedies the board has in addressing the commissions inconsistencies and procedural errors.”

Commissioners denied ACE’s appeal to open a similar public charter school in Maury County in the same meeting.