Image Credit: Tennessee Public Charter School Commission / YouTube
Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission voted in favor of an appeal to renew the charter agreement for Knowledge Academy at the Crossing in Davidson County.
The Commission voted 6-2 in favor of allowing the school to remain open for grades 5-12 for at least the next five years.
Knowledge Academy is run by the non-profit Noble Education Institute, but, as a public charter school, it must be “chartered” under a local school district or the state. Knowledge Academy is chartered by Metro Nashville Public Schools.
The MNPS Board of Education voted unanimously last month to not renew the school’s charter, on the grounds that it failed to meet goals for performance and student growth.
Noble Education appealed that vote to the Commission, arguing that the school has actually shown significant growth over the last three years, including almost doubling the student success rate and tripling the success rate of English language learners.
While charters had been approved in 10-year terms previously, Commission Executive Director Tess Stovall recommended that they instead grant a 5-year term, now allowable under a new state law passed last year.
Stovall noted the school’s 38% chronic absenteeism rate and their 36% student attrition as reasons why a full 10 years was “not merited at this time.”
In response to MNPS argument against the approval, Commissioner Eddie Smith pointed out that the school was outperforming other public schools in the area.
“How is that fair to the kids to put them into a school that is performing worse than the one they’re in now?” he asked.
Following the approval of their appeal, school administrators told the Tennessee Firefly: “This five-year renewal validates the hard work of our students, families, educators, and board members, and it reinforces our mission to ensure every student has access to a high-quality public education.”
Knowledge Academy has a current enrollment of around 400 students. The new agreement will set an enrollment cap of 700 students for the school.
