Three charter school operators submitted applications this year to Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to start new schools. On Tuesday, at their regularly scheduled meeting, the MNPS school board rejected all three.
The board denied the applications primarily based on reports compiled by the district’s charter school review committee.
As required by state law, the district committee rated the schools based on three categories:
- Academic plan design and capacity
- Operations plan and capacity
- Financial plan and capacity
The schools under consideration failed to achieve a passing grade in any category, with most areas being graded as “partially meets expectations.”
MNPS spokesman Sean Braisted told The Tennessee Star in an email exchange, “We appreciate the close, careful consideration of the applications by the expert review teams and we appreciate the Board taking those reviews into consideration when making their decision.”
Of the three, Invictus and Pathways in Education are new schools, while Nashville Collegiate Prep High School (NCPHS) is a grade expansion for an established Nashville school.
The prep school’s K-8 school serves approximately 300 students. Per the Tennessee State Report Card, NCPHS students in grades 3-5 scored a success rate in English Language Arts (ELA) of 25 percent as compared to 38 percent for district schools.
As an existing charter school operator, the school’s portfolio review/performance record was added to the criteria, where it received a grade of “failing to meet expectations.”
In making a motion to reject the application, former board chair and current Board Member Cheryl Mayes recognized that the area where NCPHS was proposed to open, which falls in her district, was at capacity and needed more schools. However, based on the review committee’s report, she would feel uncomfortable supporting the school.
Mayes told The Star in a phone call, “There were just too many deficiencies in the committee report that needed correcting.”
Invictus is a charter school founded by local educator Brenda Jones, a Nashville native, who grew up living in east Nashville’s public housing at James Cayce Homes. Initially, she attended public schools in her neighborhood. Once she reached high school, she secured a special transfer with MNPS to leave her east Nashville zoned school and attend Hillsboro High School in Green Hills. The experience changed her life.
After earning her degree, she taught in a public charter school for eight years before transitioning into school administration and instructional leadership coaching.
She recently told the Tennessee Firefly, “I like the concept of charters.”
Jones added, “This idea that there’s more than one way to educate our students and that we should be providing options for families to choose from so that they are doing what’s best for them and we’re not dictating what’s best for them, but I wanted to make sure we did it the right way.”
Several people showed up to speak in support of the school during the public participation portion of Tuesday’s meeting. Unfortunately, the district review committee found that the school’s application only partially met the expectations for consideration.
The board voted 6-2 to deny the application, with Board Members Sharon Gentry and Erin O’Hara Block voting against the motion to deny.
Board Member Berthena Nabaa-McKinny, whose district would be home to the new school, voiced appreciation for those who spoke in support. She then revealed that, other than Invictus board members, she hasn’t received any emails from community members who want a charter school. She said, “Parents tend to like the district’s traditional public elementary school.”
District 4 is already home to one charter school, Strive Collegiate Academy.
Like the other two applicants, Pathways in Education was found to be lacking by the district’s charter school review team. It proposed to open a 9-12 alternative high school in the Glencliff cluster.
Glencliff High School was recently declared a dropout factory. A dropout factory is defined by researchers at Johns Hopkins University as a high school with less than a 60 percent graduation rate. Glencliff has a 53 percent rate.
While many defenders point to the unique challenges the district high school faces, it is the only high school in Middle Tennessee under that 60 percent graduation rate.
To improve outcomes, MNPS and Nashville State Community College recently announced Glencliff High School as the next location for an Early College program in Nashville. This will provide students a pathway to earn college credits and a degree while earning their high school diploma. This will be the third Early College site established by the partnership.
The first is on Nashville State’s White Bridge campus, which is a full college immersion experience with the stated purpose of having students earn their high school diploma and a college degree simultaneously. Last spring, 34 students graduated from the Early College High School with diplomas and an associate degree. The second is located at Whites Creek High School through funding provided by PNC. In early 2020, Nashville State and MNPS launched Better Together, a joint venture to help MNPS graduates prepare for, attend, and complete college.
The three schools – Pathways in Education, Invictus Nashville, and NCPHS – now have 30 days to make corrections to their applications and resubmit them. If the district rejects them again, they have the option to appeal to the Tennessee State Public Charter Commission.
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TC Weber is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. He also writes the blog Dad Gone Wild. Follow TC on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]. He’s the proud parent of two public school children and the spouse of a public school teacher.
