A charter school representative Wednesday reacted to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s (TPCSC) vote to reject applications for Founders Classical Academy in Williamson and Sumner counties.
Brian Haas works for Del Rey Education, which helps launch charter schools nationwide, and works with Founders Classical.
“The assertion was repeated that we were not prepared to handle special needs students, based on projections that cannot be determined in advance of actually enrolling students,” he told The Tennessee Star. “I’m not sure how you come to the conclusion that an organization that adequately meets the needs of hundreds of special needs students, among the 14,000 they serve every year, is incapable of doing so across state lines. Especially with a program specifically designed to help special needs students that is already in use in at least 14 Tennessee schools.”
As The Star reported earlier this week, TPCSC voted against allowing the two Founders Classical Academy schools to open.
“I think it is clear that this school has a lot of community support,” Tess Stovall, TPCSC’s executive director reportedly said. “However, that is not the only thing that one needs for a school to be successful.”
The nine-member panel is comprised of appointees of Governor Bill Lee (R), who is purportedly in favor of school choice.
Still, TPCSC continues to deny charter schools the ability to open statewide.
In a previous battle with the commission, Haas said the commission misrepresented the charter school’s ability to provide hot meals and busing for students.
“Much of the Williamson County Schools presentation, especially the closing, dwelled on our purported ‘inability to effectively serve students,’ based on our lack of general bus transportation (Founders provides busing for special needs and in situations where necessary, and serves more diverse populations than most districts the schools reside in, with parents being willing to drive their children, as they are in Williamson), and lack of food services,” he told The Star at the time.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nashville Collegiate Prep” by Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.
