One of Nashville’s brand new charter schools started the year with 30 fourth graders, now they’ll have none. Global Academy’s leaders got the news after last night’s school board meeting.
In a near unanimous vote, the Metro School Board decided it would not overlook Global Academy’s charter mix up. The school was approved as a K through 3 school this year with the goal of adding 4 through 8 in coming years. But Global administrators thought they could start this fall with K through 4, and say they even got confirmation from a district official last spring.
Global was hoping to amend its charter, allowing it to keep the 30 enrolled fourth graders.
Several board members were hesitant saying they didn’t want to set a precedent of changing rules after they’ve been approved. Board member Mark North admitted this was a tough decision, weighing what was best for children, parents, and teachers with concerns over school management.
“I don’t like the idea of setting up a charter and then violating it right off. I’m afraid that this problem is a symptom and not just the problem. On the other hand the parents made a choice to send their children there.”
Only one board member, Karen Johnson, voted to forgive the mistake.
Losing those students means the school will lose money and that may make it hard to keep 2 fourth grade teachers on staff.
This year Metro hired someone to oversee charter schools. The hope is with that position in place this kind of mistake won’t happen again.
Global Academy is on probation with the district due to problems it was having getting kids to and from school. It now has a plan in place to correct that issue.
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