The Tennessee commission with the power to overturn local decisions on charter schools sided with local districts Monday. The Public Charter School Commission voted 8-0 against letting two charter schools open in Middle Tennessee.

Although some commission members expressed support for alternatives to traditional public schools, they said the Founders Classical Academies that wanted to open in Brentwood and Hendersonville didn’t show they could meet state standards.

High turnout for the meeting

Alexis Marshall WPLN News

A box full of Founders Classical Academy t-shirts stood outside the meeting room Monday.

Commissioners noted the high turnout of supporters for the Brentwood charter at Monday’s meeting. A few dozen community members showed up, many wearing Founders Classical Academy t-shirts.

Public commenters in favor of the Brentwood charter said they desire the classical education model for their students. One parent said he prefers that style of education because it taught his older children “how to think, not what to think.”

Other commenters in favor of Founders Classical criticized Williamson County Schools’ use of Wit & Wisdom curriculum for elementary schoolers. That’s been at the center of a dispute with conservative parent groups, who say the themes aren’t age-appropriate and promote critical race theory. The curriculum includes stories like “Ruby Bridges Goes to School,” the true story of a young Black girl who was the first to integrate a school in New Orleans.

Community support is not enough

“I think it is clear that this school has a lot of community support,” said Tess Stovall, the commission’s executive director. “However, that is not the only thing that one needs for a school to be successful.”

Commissioner Wendy Tucker said she’s the mother of two Williamson County students with disabilities. She said she had “grave concerns” with how the charter would meet the needs of disabled students in the district.

“There does not appear to be a real desire to serve all kids,” Tucker said. “And there certainly does not appear to be a plan to serve all kids.”

Concerns were also raised about serving English learners and unclear financial and operational plans. The proposed Hendersonville charter received similar criticisms and had far less community support.

Sumner County parent Wes Duenkel said he felt like the whole process was a waste of public school resources and taxpayer money. In his view, the charter sponsor made “egregious oversights” when submitting its plans to Sumner County Schools. “If they phone in a charter school application, how can we trust them to teach our children?”

Duenkel said that Monday’s votes give him more confidence in the members of the commission than he had before. Still, he worries that the body is not directly accountable to voters, since members are appointed by the governor.

What’s next?

The body will hear four more charter school appeals Tuesday. They include:

• Tennessee Nature Academy (Nashville)
• Binghampton Community School (Shelby County)
• Tennessee Volunteer Military Academy (Shelby County)
• Academy of the Arts Charter High School (Fayette County)

Correction: This story originally misspelled the name of a Sumner County parent. His name is Wes Duenkel, not Dunkel.