Hendersonville Standard
HENDERSONVILLE WEATHER

Sumner mulls first charter school application





The Sumner County Board of Education will vote on whether or not to approve its first charter school application at the next school board meeting on April 19.TENA LEE/tlee@mainstreetmediatn.com

The Sumner County Board of Education will vote on whether or not to approve its first charter school application at the next school board meeting on April 19.TENA LEE/tlee@mainstreetmediatn.com

A committee charged with evaluating the first public charter school application received by Sumner County Schools has recommended the school board deny the request.

Del Rey Education, Inc., submitted an application to Sumner County Schools in January for Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville, a K-12 charter school with a focus on classical education. The school hopes to open in the fall of 2024 in an existing building in either Hendersonville or Gallatin.

According to its application, Del Rey Education registered with the state of Tennessee as a non-profit corporation in August and intends to partner with the charter management organization ResponsiveEd, an operator of more than a dozen similar schools in Texas and Arkansas.

“Traditionally, a rigorous classical education was available only to families who could afford private education,” reads the school’s executive summary. “Through its schools and adoption of this model, Del Rey Education will make this caliber of education available to all, regardless of academic background or prior expectations and historically, students have stepped up to meet the challenge.”

Charter schools are public schools that receive state and local funding and are operated by independent, non-profit governing bodies. Tennessee’s public charter school law was passed and signed into law in 2002. Although the state’s first charter schools opened in 2003, the Sumner County Board of Education hadn’t received an application for a charter school until this year.

Sumner County Schools Chief Academic Officer Scott Langford explained the state-mandated process for evaluating and approving a charter school application during a study session with school board members on April 5.

A Charter School Authorizer Committee met several times to review the application by following a state-mandated rubric, Langford noted.

Committee members named by Langford and Director of Schools Dr. Del Phillips included Phillips and Langford; community members Dr. Charles Lea, Paul Decker and Amy Ramsey; Sumner County Schools CFO Amanda Brown; Chief Student Support Officer Norma Dam; Assistant Director for Facilities and Support Services Andy Brown; Assistant Director for Information Services Chris Brown; Assistant Director for Student Support Katie Brown; Assistant Director for Health Services Lisa Herren; Assistant Director for Communications and Board Relations Jeremy Johnson; Interim Assistant Director for Human Resources Craig Ott; Dr. Jeff Yawn, supervisor of professional growth; Brad Schreiner, principal of Sumner County Middle College and former principal of Merrol Hyde Magnet School; and Rhonda Jernigan, supervisor of accounting and reporting.

The committee was required to assess the academics, operations and financials of the proposed school and rate the applicant with a meets or exceeds, partially meets or does not meet, rating.

“Our challenge was – is this a school that’s pretty close to ready to open and meet the needs of Sumner County students in August of 2024,” Langford told board members. “So it’s not just a straight tally of how many partially meets they have… It’s can this school function and thrive like we expect all of our schools to do.”

Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville was given a partially meets standard in four sub-categories: school mission and vision; academic focus and plan; academic performance standards and assessments. It received a does not meet rating in seven sub-categories including enrollment summary; high school graduation and post-secondary readiness; school calendar and schedule; special populations and at-risk students; school culture and discipline; recruitment and enrollment; and parent and community engagement and support. There were no categories in which the applicant received a meets or exceeds rating.

Some of the feedback given by the authorizer committee included:

– Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville didn’t sufficiently study the Hendersonville area to understand current demographics or offerings.

– Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville is not prepared to support special population students.

– Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville does not have a viable plan to operate a school by August 2024.

– Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville did not budget to meet Tennessee BEP staffing requirements.

– Founders Classical Academy of Hendersonville did not prepare a complete or accurate budget that shows the ability to open and operate a school in Sumner County on their proposed timeline.

Langford told board members that the committee recommended that the application not be approved.

The school board will vote on the application at the board’s next regular meeting on April 19.

Brian Haas of Del Rey Education, Inc., says he plans to be at the meeting.

Haas said in an email to the Hendersonville Standard on April 12 that he was unaware of the committee’s recommendation.

“I find that unfortunate considering our expressed desire to partner with the district and shoulder some of the risk and burden in helping them expand on a model they, themselves, view as successful, as seen in the district’s own classical-esque Merrol Hyde Magnet School,” said Haas. “In our case, enrollment would not be limited to only the 15 percent of the highest performing students in the district, making this quality education more accessible to all.”

Haas added that the school has an innovative plan for a media arts program that would be unique to Sumner County and stand out in the Nashville area.

“As one of the fastest growing areas in Tennessee, it is surprising that the district would not be more excited about bringing a model of education so in-demand by parents, supported by Gov. Lee and run by an organization that currently operates the largest number of these schools in the country,” Haas added.

If board members vote to reject the application, the board has 10 days to notify the applicant, according to state law. Once the applicant receives the board’s decision, it has 30 days to respond to the denial and correct any deficiencies. After that, the board has 60 days to review the organization’s re-submittal. If the board rejects a second time, the applicant can appeal to the state charter commission who can ultimately approve the new charter school.

Del Rey Education, Inc. has also submitted an application to Williamson County Schools for a Founders Classical Academy of Brentwood. The Williamson County School Board will consider recommendations by its Charter Review Committee in a work session on April 14. The board will vote on the recommendation on April 18.

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