State commission overturns Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education to approve three new public charter schools

Charter Commission meeting this week (Screengrab)

For the fourth year in a row, members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted to overturn decisions by the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education and approve new public charter schools.

Thursday afternoon the governor appointed board approved appeals from both Nurses Middle College and LEAD Southeast Elementary School without dissent. Commissioners followed that vote Friday and approved Encompass Community School without dissent.

MNPS board members denied all three proposed charters in July and school leaders appealed to the state commission in hopes of overturning those denials. 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 approved for a K-12 academic pipeline

Dr. Ricki Gibbs (Photo by LEAD Public Schools)

The approval of LEAD Southeast Elementary School will enable the charter operator to create a K-12 pipeline with existing LEAD middle and high schools in Southeast Nashville and Antioch.

The charter operator runs 5 middle and high schools in the area and LEAD Head of Elementary Schools Dr. Ricki Gibbs told commissioners before the vote that this new elementary school will help put students on the right path earlier.

“Adding an elementary school to our network will allow us to improve the readiness of our incoming middle school students and in turn, further strengthen the academic outcomes,” said Gibbs.

MNPS board members denied LEAD’s application in part because of the performance of a school it no longer operates. 

LEAD took over operations for LEAD Brick Church in North Davidson County more than a decade ago following years of underperformance as a district-run school.  Under LEAD, the public charter school routinely outperformed nearby district-run middle schools but did not reach proficiency levels of schools in more affluent parts of Nashville.

MNPS Executive Officer of Schools Dr. Rodney Rowan continued to make this case Thursday that LEAD’s experience with LEAD Brick Church is a reason to deny the application for an elementary school.

Dr. Rodney Rowan speaking at Thursday’s meeting (Screengrab)

“LEAD Brick Church was a priority school ten years consecutively,” said MNPS Executive Officer of Schools Dr. Rodney Rowan. “A well-developed academic plan does not take twelve years to move a school out of the bottom 12 percent of the state academically.”

The argument did not land with members of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission who acknowledged LEAD’s accomplishments, both at LEAD Brick Church and at other LEAD operated schools that are outperforming comparable district-run middle and high schools.

“If we can do some things in elementary school to get them better prepared for middle school and then high school, that to me is a great target to have,” said Commissioner Tom Griscom. “After about 17 years of performance in Metro Nashville, this is a system that I think has shown an ability to provide a good education and also to realize if we got some things that need to be fixed, we’re going to fix em.”

LEAD initially applied to open two elementary schools but withdrew the appeal for LEAD Cameron Elementary to focus on LEAD Southeast.  Commission Chair Chris Richards cited that decision as another reason to feel comfortable approving the new school.

“There’s been few applications that I have seen that I feel as confident in the ability of a leader to execute against their plan as this application. I also think that with the focus of this being a single school, and not two schools to be done in a single year, that even heightens my support,” said Commission Chair Chris Richards.

Nursing focused charter to address the nursing shortage

The commission’s decision to approve Nurses Middle College will establish a nursing focused charter high school in Nashville that’s designed to put students on a faster path to becoming nurses and help address the state’s nursing shortage. The school will infuse nursing lessons into every part of curriculum and partner with health care programs at multiple institutions of higher education.

MNPS board members denied the proposed high school, claiming existing district-run schools offer similar programs.  Dr. Rowan continued to make that case to the state commission on Thursday.

Dr. Andrea Poynter (right) at a Nurses Middle College summer camp (Photo by Sky ARnold

“Nurses referenced that they were offering dual-enrollment, work-based learning, and industry credentials. These same services are offered in 10 schools in MNPS through the district CTE (career and technical education) program,” said Rowan. “Does Nurses have a concept that is unique? Yes. However, this is a duplication of services.”

Commission members disagreed, praising the model as something that’s needed in Tennessee.  Board member Eddie Smith also took issue with the district’s argument that Nurses was offering a duplicate of academic services.

“The argument that this is duplicative falls on deaf ears when you also say that it’s unique. Something can not be both unique and a duplicate at the same time,” said Commission Member Eddie Smith. “MNPS is trying to come up with reasons for just denying things rather than actually having solid arguments. This is something that I believe is deeply needed in our state.”

Following the unanimous vote for approval, Nurses Middle College sent the Tennessee Firefly a statement thanking the commission for its decision.

“With this charter approval, we’ll be able to help dozens, and soon hundreds, of young people achieve their goal of entering nursing or another health profession,” said Nurses Middle College Nashville Executive Director Dr. Andrea Poynter. “Mentoring young people from backgrounds underrepresented in health care is my professional passion. I’ve seen for myself the difference a diverse nursing workforce can make in patients’ health and well-being.”

Encompass to bring a mastery-based approach to students

The commission’s vote to approve the K-8 Encompass Community School will bring another education option to the Whites Creek and Pearl Cohn school clusters in North Nashville.

Megan Garry speaking at Friday’s meeting (Screengrab)

Throughout the approval process, founder Megan Garry has argued that option is needed in those communities where nearly 60 percent of the parents of middle school students are choosing to send their children to a school other than their zoned school.

“Encompass would be the first of its kind in Nashville and is proposed to open in a corner of the city where the percentage of students who achieve grade-level proficiency is in the low single digits, and in some cases is less than 5 percent. The families of North Nashville deserve options,” said Garry

Encompass will employ a mastery-based approach to learning to ensure students receive the instruction they need, when they need it, and for as long as they need it, instead of a traditional approach that uses a predetermined schedule.

MNPS board members voted Encompass down arguing the area it would serve already has an excess of school capacity. Dr. Rowan told commissioners on Friday that the school’s plan to open with an initial K-3 grade class may additionally be too ambitious for students who face a variety of academic challenges.

“Encompass’ academic plan simply requires more time to roll out. I ask that you err on the side of caution because time could be the factor that determines this school’s success and demise. And a new charter school being approved in a feeder pattern that has already faced with multiple challenges should not take place when we’re talking about time,” saod Rowan.

Commission members disagreed, pointing to the academic struggles of existing schools in North Nashville. Commissioner Michael Carter said it would be “negligent” to deny Encompass.

“When we look at Nashville public schools, particularly the two schools in that area, are not meeting TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) standards,” said Carter. “It’s not about us, it’s about the community and you have in fact a real demand from the community for this school, you’ve gotta take note.”

Novus SMART and Nashville School of Excellence denied

Commission members voted down two other charter appeals from proposed Middle Tennessee Schools.

On Thursday the commission denied a charter appeal from Novus SMART Academy to create what would have been the fourth public charter school in Rutherford County.

Members followed that decision on Friday by denying the proposed Nashville School of Excellence that would be a replication of the existing Memphis School of Excellence.

This story was updated to add new information.