Dyer County education leaders faced new questions this week about their qualifications to reject the county’s first proposed public charter school.¶
The county’s board of education rejected Trimble Academy’s application twice this year on the recommendation of a review team with no experience with public charter schools.¶
Dyer County Director of Schools Cheryl Mathis confirmed on Monday that no member of the review team had any direct experience with charter schools or charter applications. She said the team made its recommendation against Trimble after consulting with Tennessee Department of Education staff and individual research.¶
“The review committee just started looking at other charter schools. How did they operate, what did their plan look like.” Mathis said. “So, we just tried to comb through other applications and talk to other people to see how they did it.”¶
Mathis’ comments came during a public hearing that could play a big role in the proposed school’s future.¶
Supporters of Trimble Academy appealed the school’s denial to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Monday’s public hearing is the latest step in the appeal process that will ultimately be decided in October. Charter schools are free public schools operated by a nonprofit under a “charter” with a school district or the state.¶
Commonly Approved Waivers
The qualifications of Dyer County’s charter review team and district leaders faced additional questions during the hearing by Charter Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall.¶
One reason the Dyer County Board of Education gave for rejecting Trimble's application was that it included 16 waivers. Charter school applicants frequently request waivers to provide flexibility in areas such as curriculum, staffing, or scheduling to support their specific school model, and Stovall pointed out that Trimble’s requested waivers were no different.¶
“In your reason for denial, in the conversation at the school board, there were concerns that they requested so many waivers; are they ready to operate a school?” Stovall said to Dyer County leaders. “Yet many of the waivers are, I think, what we would see, are regularly common and approved waivers by charter applicants across the state.”¶
Old-Fashioned Schooling
The rural community of Trimble has roughly 600 residents and has been without a school of any kind since Dyer County Schools closed Trimble Elementary last year. Trimble Forward Alliance formed shortly after that decision, and its members quickly started working on the application for the K-8 grade Trimble Academy.¶
President Margaret Prater told the Tennessee Firefly that the charter school model made the most sense for Trimble, as parents wanted a small school environment that offered immersive outdoor learning. Trimble Academy will accomplish both by borrowing some concepts currently in use at Skillern Elementary School in East Tennessee.¶
“It is old-fashioned schooling, the three Rs, reading, writing, and arithmetic, topped off with robust literature, history, and fine-arts curriculum that teaches students how to learn, not just what to learn,” Prater said. “And moral values are infused in everyday learning, and classes are normally held outdoors where students can have direct contact with nature as they engage in hands-on activities.”¶
Questions About the School Building
Trimble Academy received support from community leaders late last month to use the former Trimble Elementary school building if the charter school receives approval. The condition of the structure received considerable attention during Monday’s meeting.¶
Dyer County Schools’ attorney Charles Cagle said that multiple engineering companies, including Scallion Structural Engineering in Jackson, have told the district that the building needs extensive repairs. Repair costs also played a primary role in the district’s initial decision to close Trimble Academy.¶
“That building was built according to 1934 standards, which are way different from the standards that we have now for constructing schools,” Cagle said. “To say that in the end, that this was the most expensive school in the district to maintain would not be wrong.”¶
Trimble Forward Alliance members pushed back on those concerns, noting that only the south wing of the building needs repairs and that the remaining sections could be used while repairs are underway.¶
Prater said the organization has additionally ordered multiple inspections of the building and the Scallion Engineering report, including a review by Walker Consultants. She says parents need to know that the building is safe.¶
“Misinformation about this building being unsafe means we must re-educate parents as we recruit students,” Prater said. “Walker Consultants noted the Scallion report did not say the building was in a state of imminent collapse. Walker further stated, ‘We did not observe the building to be in a dangerous condition, nor did we observe a portion of the building in a state of imminent collapse.’ They noted the building was in condition similar to other in-service buildings of this age and construction.”¶
Prater says Trimble Forward Alliance budgeted $200,000 for building repairs, which is within the estimates that the organization has received.¶
