Metro Nashville School Board Votes Against the Needs of Students in Antioch and Southeast Davidson County

NASHVILLE — Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) released the following statement to rebuke this week’s vote by the Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) Board of Education against offering high-quality public school choice to parents in southeast Davidson County and Antioch.

The MNPS board voted Tuesday night to deny charter agreements to three schools and board members came one vote shy of being able to deny a fourth application.  The board will make another vote on that innovative application from the Tennessee Nature Academy soon.

Additionally, board members deferred approving what should have been a routine request from Knowledge Academies to consolidate its three schools under one charter and prevent the closure of Knowledge Academy Middle School. The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission recently issued a strong statement in support of Knowledge Academies by overturning an earlier MNPS board decision against this consolidation request.  The MNPS board is now considering appeals options that only serve to hurt parents at Knowledge Academy Middle School who deserve to know where their children will attend classes next month.

“The decisions not to move forward with charter requests from Knowledge Academies and the Tennessee Nature Academy show MNPS board members aren’t listening to parents in Davidson County who want equitable and effective education options for their children,” said Adam Lister, President and CEO of Tennesseans for Student Success. “Not every student learns the same and the families in Southeast Davidson County and Antioch deserve the choice of high-quality charter operations like Knowledge Academies and the Tennessee Nature Academy for their child’s education.”

The MNPS Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the consolidation request from Knowledge Academies at its August 9 meeting.  A date has not been scheduled yet for the vote on the Tennessee Nature Academy.