LEAD Cameron is outperforming peer middle schools. Why are Nashville school leaders trying to divert students away?

Exterior of LEAD Cameron

In 2010 Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) approved a unique agreement with LEAD Public Schools to hand over control of the district’s struggling Cameron Middle School in South Davidson County.

The new LEAD Cameron was the first turnaround school in Tennessee, and by agreement, would essentially operate like a normal zoned school that elementary students attending Fall-Hamilton, Glenview, and John B. Whitsitt would feed into when they advanced to middle school. The arrangement is different from most other public charter schools in Nashville that have open enrollment policies.

Since then, LEAD Cameron has achieved the state’s highest rating for growth (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System Level 5) each school year with the exception of 2020-21, and outperformed the other district run middle school in the Glencliff School Cluster in every subject on recent state tests.

Graphic of the current Glencliff Cluster by Metro Nashville Public Schools

Despite this success, members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a rezoning plan for schools in the Antioch, Glencliff, and Hillsboro School Clusters that essentially diverts public school children from feeding into LEAD Cameron.

LEAD Public Schools Director Dr. Ricki Gibbs speaks at Tuesday’s MNPS Board of Education meeting to voice his concerns about the district’s rezoning plan. (Screenshot) 

The district’s plan moves Margaret Allen Middle School from the Antioch Cluster into the Glencliff Cluster, and feeds elementary students from Fall-Hamilton, Glenview, Napier, and John B. Whitsitt elementaries into that school. The plan would additionally classify LEAD Middle School as an optional charter school and give students the option to switch to an MNPS school.

Before the vote, LEAD Public Schools Director Dr. Ricki Gibbs criticized the plan saying the rezoning will have a “significant impact” on LEAD Cameron families.

“By rezoning Fall Hamilton, Glenview and Whitsitt elementaries to Margaret Allen Middle, you will remove their entire zoned enrollment at LEAD Cameron,” he said.

LEAD Public Schools’ counsel recently sent a letter to MNPS’s counsel to urge district leaders to oppose the rezoning plan, which they consider a “breach of contract” with the district.

Briana Shelton, principal of LEAD Cameron Middle, also urged the board to vote against the rezoning plan. To help make the case against the plan, she reminded MNPS leaders that the school has consistently performed well compared to other zone schools.

“By rezoning these elementary schools, Cameron would cease to be a zone school,” she said.  “Wright Middle School and Margaret Allen have both been in the bottom 5 percent of the state [in terms of performance] and identified as ‘comprehensive support and improvement schools’ in 2022 and again in 2023. Since its existence, LEAD Cameron has never held that designation.”

The rezoning plan is seen by charter supporters as the latest in a series of discriminatory decisions by MNPS and its board of education. The board has denied every application for a new charter school three years in a row and last November, board members denied a charter renewal request from Rocketship Nashville Northeast Elementary School.

District leaders defended the rezoning plan as being more convenient for families, pointing out Una Elementary School students in the Antioch Cluster will now transition to Apollo Middle School that’s closer for many families. Additionally, students leaving Smith Springs Elementary School currently split into two middle schools will now all feed into John F. Kennedy Middle School.

District leaders also noted that MNPS recently acquired additional land to establish a brand-new Antioch cluster elementary school, and is currently seeking funding to build the new school to accommodate more students in the future as part of the restructuring plan.

“Our goal is to provide clearer, more consistent academic experiences and relieve enrollment while maintaining excellent learning environments for all students. It is important to note that all students who live in areas impacted by rezoning will have the opportunity to remain at their current school of enrollment, with transportation provided by families,” a public statement from the district said.  

According to district leaders, the zoning changes within the Antioch, Glencliff, and Hillsboro clusters will be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year. For more information on the plan, visit the district’s website.

LEAD Public Schools applied earlier this year to open two new elementary schools, including a proposed LEAD Cameron Elementary that would have also fed students into LEAD Cameron Middle School. LEAD chose not to move forward with an appeal for LEAD Cameron Elementary and focused instead on the proposed LEAD Southeast Elementary School.

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission approved it last month.

The Tennessee Firefly’s Sky Arnold contributed to this story.