Rutherford County School Board votes not to move forward with another charter school

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — With a four to three vote, the Rutherford County School Board decided to deny moving forward with a proposed charter school at their meeting on Wednesday.

Most of the board members explained their decision by saying that until the county fixed funding, it would not be fair for Rutherford County Schools to bring in another charter school.

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“I don’t want to deny a charter school because I believe it’s a parental choice, but at the same time we have to look at fiscal impact that it’s causing right now,” said school board member Frances Rosales.

Springs Power Academy and American Classical School Academy are two authorized charter schools set to open their doors on August 12. Both upcoming charter schools have required checklists that need to be met before they can open, including emergency operation plans and teacher requirements.

The board meeting also discussed concerns with respect to traffic congestion at Springs Power Academy. The board also discussed their new start and end times, which have been amended from 6:45 a.m. until 2:15 p.m.

The new school entered into a signed lease agreement to utilize the Boys and Girls Club during the school day before the aftercare program would begin at 2:30 p.m.

One of the concerns mentioned in the meeting was food service plans. The board was told that shelf-stable food items was a possible option. Another potential option mentioned was the use of pre-prepared meals for lunches through a food service company.

Student enrollment for the already-approved Springs Power Academy sits at 208 students, but the school planned to open at 240 students. According to a trusted advisor for the board, Springs Academy has yet to hire an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher, a Special Education (SPED) teacher, or a related-arts teacher, but has plans to do so.

American Classical School Academy, the other approved charter school, has an enrollment of 234 as of publication. Their goal for enrollment was set at 340. Subjects including art, music, physical education, special education and literacy coordinator have all been staffed. However, some members of the board said that they’d prefer to have control over charter school decisions.

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“If we were to deny it, even if you were against Charter schools and you were to get a denial here, it could get approved at the state, and we don’t have any jurisdiction over that anymore,” said board member Caleb Tidwell. “They will still get approved, they’ll still get the funding but they don’t have to and are not required to communicate with us.”

Both already-approved charter schools do not allow for the enrollment of out-of-district students. Updates on enrollment will not be finalized until all students are entered into a database.

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