Metro Nashville Public Schools has 28 charter schools under its jurisdiction. Pursuant to state law, MNPS is required to review any new charter school applications submitted in a timely fashion and the MNPS Board of Education (School Board) is required to vote on those application within deadlines set by the State of Tennessee.
In April, the School Board will be required to review five applications submitted by three different charter operators to open new schools in Davidson County. The following explains the process of reviewing, funding, and authorizing charter schools in Metro Nashville, along with the most recent applications that have been submitted for review.
HOW CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE FUNDED
Charter schools receive a per pupil amount for each student enrolled in their school. The amount of per pupil funding is set by a state formula that effectively takes the entirety of the MNPS budget state and local and divides it by the number of students. Whether authorized by the Metro Nashville School Board, the State Board of Education, or the Achievement School District, MNPS is required to transfer or forgo an amount of funding equivalent to the per pupil amount for each student enrolled in the charter school within Davidson County. In the amended FY19-20 MNPS budget, $150 million was transferred to charter schools based on a per pupil amount of $10,722.
Charter schools are under the supervision and are the responsibility of their authorizer. In most cases, MNPS is the authorizer for charter schools in Nashville. However, the State Board of Education and the Achievement School District also have charters under their supervision.
PROCESS
The first step is for a charter operator to submit a letter of intent to MNPS that outlines their general plan to submit a new charter school application. The letter of intent includes the number of seats they will be seeking to authorize by grade level, the timeline, and a general description of their application.
Within two months of submitting a letter of intent, the operator must file their completed application with the Office of Charter Schools for an initial review. Following that initial review, the Office of Charter Schools puts together independent teams of educational experts to develop a rubric for scoring the applications based on a consensus of the group, compile questions for interviews with the applicant, and oversee the interview process. This independent group will be looking at several factors to determine if the charter applicant is meeting the quality and standards set forth.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
On April 28, the School Board will review the applications and scoring rubrics submitted by the Office of Charter Schools. They may factor those into their decision on whether to approve or disapprove the charter school, but are also given discretion to consider whether the proposed new charter school “will have a substantial negative fiscal impact on the [Local Education Agency] such that authorization of the charter school would be contrary to the best interest of the pupils, school district or community.”
Applicants that are approved by the School Board can then begin the process of opening a new charter school based on their approved plan.
Applicants that are denied are given the ability to review and amend their application based on feedback from the School Board or the charter review teams. They can then submit a new application that will be voted on by the School Board on July 28.
If an applicant does not gain approval from the local School Board, they have the ability under state law to take their case to the State Board of Education. If approved by the State Board of Education, the charter school and the Metro Nashville School Board may mutually agree to oversee the charter school. If either party declines local oversight, then the charter school will be under the jurisdiction of the SBE (starting in 2021, the Tennessee Charter School Commission). The local and state funding still is sent to the charter school if it is under the supervision of the state, the charter applicant can open a school under the authorization and supervision of the SBE.
APPLICATIONS
Six letters of intent were submitted to Metro Schools, but completed applications total five schools by three separate operators for 2020.
TIMELINE FOR APPLICATION REVIEW
February 3-14
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Read application
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Develop individual rubric
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Meet/call in to review thoughts
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Develop questions for capacity interview
February 17-28
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Read application
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Develop individual rubric
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Meet/call in to review thoughts
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Develop questions for capacity interview
March 2-13
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Read application
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Develop individual rubric
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Meet/call in to review thoughts
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Develop questions for capacity interview
March 16-20
March 23-27
March 30- April 3
April 6 - 17
April 21
April 28
April 29
April 29 - May 29
June 1- 26
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Reread Application only in highlighted areas
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Develop Individual Rubric
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Meet/Call in to review thoughts
June 29-July 3
July 6 - 17
July 21
July 28
July 29