School Board Chooses Politics Over the Needs of Students by Denying Nashville Native and Former MNPS Teacher

NASHVILLE —  Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) today released the following statement after the Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education voted against expanding high-quality public school choice opportunities for Nashville students. The board rejected a new school application from Dr. Brenda Jones, a former MNPS graduate who grew up in East Nashville’s Cayce Homes, to open Invictus Nashville. This public charter school would offer K-8 students in Donelson and Hermitage an innovative learning model tailored to help each student find their unique path to personal and professional success.

“Invictus Nashville has deep roots in our community that extend to its founder’s childhood growing up in East Nashville. Dr. Brenda Jones created this school with the goal of supporting diverse student learning and diverse backgrounds in her hometown and ultimately put students like she was, on the path to success,” said Dustin Mohammed, Middle Tennessee Advocacy Coordinator for Tennesseans for Student Success. “This decision denies families the choice of accessing a unique Montessori learning model that’s not readily available to all MNPS students living in Donelson and Hermitage. The school board has disappointingly put politics ahead of their obligation to provide the most opportunities to the students of our community and denied the opportunity for a Nashville-native and former MNPS teacher to see a need, step up, and work with the school system to ensure more families have a choice for the best education that fits their children.”

Board members also voted down amended applications from Pathways in Education to open a public charter school serving at-risk students and Nashville Collegiate Prep High School to open a public charter school with a college prep focus and unique pathways in art and technology.

Tennesseans for Student Success conducted a thorough independent review of all three applications earlier this year and found them to be high-quality options for Davidson County and worthy of approvals. You can read those reports on our Quality Charter Review page.

Tennesseans for Student Success is a statewide network of parents and caregivers, teachers, community leaders, volunteers, and advocates dedicated to championing and supporting Tennessee’s students and their futures.