Three proposed public charter schools in Nashville receive positive recommendation for approval

A Charter Commission hearing and the school logos of three proposed new schools (Photo by Sky Arnold)

Supporters of three proposed new public charter schools in Nashville are receiving support from the executive director of the state board tasked with deciding their future.

Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall released written recommendations this week supporting the appeals from Nurses Middle College, LEAD Southeast Elementary, and Encompass Community School.

The Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education (MNPS) denied all three proposed charters in July. Leaders of each proposed school appealed to the governor appointed state commission in hopes of overturning those denials, and the commission will vote on each later this week. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

Commissioners don’t have to follow Stovall’s recommendations and last year members voted against them in denying Nashville Collegiate Prep’s appeal.

Reasons for denial challenged

MNPS board members voted down each of the three proposed charter schools this year for different reasons.

Nurses Middle College faced denial in part because the district already offers similar health care based options for students in North Nashville.  Stovall argues Nurses model that imbeds nursing into all aspects of the classroom, is innovative enough to warrant approval.

Tess Stovall (Photo by Tennessee Public Charter School Commission)

“While the local district does have health sciences concentrations at other high schools, none of the pathways presented during the public hearing contain the graduation path proposed by the sponsor. The sponsor provided clear indicators that the nursing focus of the proposed school would be built on Tennessee state standards, and the sponsor has developed robust partnerships within the Nashville healthcare community,” wrote Stovall. “The proposed CMO (charter management organization) has successfully implemented the academic model in two other states, and this is an opportunity to provide this option to high school students in Nashville,”

Stovall also took issue with the primary reason MNPS board members denied LEAD Southeast Elementary. The board made that decision in part because of the performance of another school LEAD Public Schools use to operate in North Davidson County, known as LEAD Brick Church.

Last year the charter commission denied LEAD’s request to continue operating LEAD Brick Church in part because the school hadn’t met achievement goals.  Stovall supported that decision but wrote that she still believes LEAD provides families with a high-quality education option that should have been recognized by MNPS board members

“While I recommended that the Commission not approve a new charter agreement for LEAD Brick Church, throughout my recommendation I acknowledged the network’s intentional efforts within Nashville that have improved academic outcomes for students. There is clear data throughout the record that LEAD Public Schools has been a value-add to the Nashville community and, with four of the five schools under MNPS, a value-add to the district,” wrote Stovall. “The district’s argument regarding the performance of LEAD Public Schools was concerning. Within the totality of the network’s data, there is clear evidence of academic success within the network.”

Stovall also took issue with a key reason MNPS board members used to reject Encompass Community School. District leaders claimed there’s no need for the proposed mastery-based public charter school in North Nashville, because that area already has an excess of school capacity.

Stovall says the Middle Tennessee school district didn’t provide evidence to adequately back up that claim.

“MNPS’s evidence indicates that in the Pearl Cohn cluster, two public charter schools currently operate, and one of the charter schools does have a current waitlist. It is also important to note that, based on the 2023 Tennessee Department of Education’s Federal Accountability designations, all zoned schools in the Pearl Cohn clusters are designated as Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools, underscoring the need for a high-quality option in the area,” wrote Stovall. “With regard to the Whites Creek cluster, MNPS could not provide evidence if a waitlist exists for the two charter schools in that cluster because the charter schools run their own lotteries. If MNPS intends to cite charter school enrollment capacity as a reason for denial, the district needs to be able to provide verification of that assertion. Based on the evidence provided by MNPS, I find that not only is there a desire for a high-quality choice option in the named areas, but there is also space and capacity for a school like Encompass to meet its enrollment targets.”

The commission will also decide charter appeals from the proposed Nashville School of Excellence and Novus SMART Academy in Rutherford County this week.

Stovall recommended denial for those two charter appeals.