LEAD Public Schools files motion to stop a controversial rezoning plan from impacting families

Exterior of LEAD Cameron (Photo by LEAD Public Schools)

LEAD Public Schools filed a motion Tuesday asking Davidson County Chancellor I'Ashea Myles to grant a temporary injunction on a recently approved rezoning plan for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

That plan for schools in the district’s Antioch, Glencliff, and Hillsboro School Clusters diverts public school children from being zoned to attend LEAD Cameron Middle School and sends them instead to the lower performing district-run Margaret Allen Middle School. Unlike most other public charter schools in Nashville that have open enrollment policies, LEAD Cameron Middle School has essentially operated like a normal zoned school by agreement since 2010.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district or the state.

LEAD Public Schools filed a lawsuit last month challenging the rezoning plan as a violation of its charter, and this week’s motion asks the court to put a temporary halt to the plan while the legal action plays out.

Without the requested temporary injunction, existing LEAD Cameron families will have to apply to continue attending the public charter school through a school options process that begins today and ends on February 7, 2025, seven days before LEAD’s lawsuit is set to be heard in court.

The charter operator argues the school options application process will be a challenge for many of LEAD Cameron’s families. LEAD says nearly half of the students at LEAD Cameron are economically disadvantaged, 44 percent are English learners, and nearly 94 percent are from minority communities.

“The rezoning plan is not in the best interest of public school students as it removes the highest performing middle school in the cluster, LEAD Cameron, as the automatic zoned option for the mostly minority and economically disadvantaged families in the Glencliff cluster, leaving them with a zoned school which has already been flagged for poor performance and testing scores,” wrote attorneys for LEAD Public Schools. “LEAD has worked tirelessly to create a welcoming and academically successful culture at LEAD Cameron as a neighborhood zoned school. This culture is in jeopardy as many economically disadvantaged families and those families whose first language is not English may find the choice enrollment process unfeasible, burdensome, or unattractive.”

LEAD also says the rezoning plan creates financial challenges estimating the resources it will need to run the school next school year and could potentially put it at risk for closure.  

LEAD Public Schools initially took over operations of Cameron Middle School from MNPS in 2010 following years of struggling performance. It was the state’s first turnaround school and under LEAD, students have achieved the state’s highest rating for growth (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System Level 5) each school year with the exception of 2020-21.