ACA charter school application fails vote by Clarksville-Montgomery County school board

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System school board voted 6 to1 to deny the American Classical Academy charter school's application that would establish a free public charter school in the county.

During the CMCSS Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, the ACA’s charter school application failed to receive the votes it needed following the CMCSS Charter Review Committee recommendations given to the board.

Based on their report, AMA only partially met the three standards and was denied.

The only board member who voted for ACA was Aron Maberry from District 7.

During the meeting, Maberry asked questions to Elizabeth Vincent, who served on the Charter Review Committee regarding the process done by the Charter Committee and what changed this year compared to last year.

“I’m for our schools, I am a product of our school system,” Maberry said. “But I am also for parent choice.”

All other board members spoke on their support of CMCSS public schools and how they don’t see any added benefit to adding a charter school.

"Charter schools I understand," said Herbert A. Nelson from District 3. "Public charter schools I don't."

“I’m not opposed of charter schools,” Kent Griffy said. “But I am opposed to ones that don’t get approved by the state and don’t provide benefits to our Clarksville- Montgomery students.”

Now that the Board has voted to deny the application, ACA has 30 days to submit an amended application and the review team has 60 days to consider that application. If they still fail to get the votes, they can appeal to the state's charter school commission.

ACE's push across Middle Tennessee

American Classical Academy, a branch of American Classical Education affiliated with Hillsdale College, submitted a 500-page application to five school districts across Middle Tennessee in Jackson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson and Rutherford.

Three districts in Murfreesboro, Clarksville and Jackson, previously denied ACE charter applications in July. However, the school reemerged late last year, filing an application across the five counties.

American Classical Education K-12 curriculum was developed through the work of Hillsdale College and with contributions from Hillsdale's member schools, according to a Hillsdale College education website.

According to ACA applications, curriculum would support mastery of Tennessee’s state standards through systematic phonics instruction, Singapore math, a focus on American history, civics, government, use of the Socratic Method and the study of Latin beginning in the sixth grade, for example, as well as a focus on the arts and athletics.

Five school boards across Middle Tennessee will hear the proposal this week, deciding the fate of the charter school's future in the region.

On Monday, the Robertson County school board voted down the charter school. The Jackson-Madison County school board will hear the school's proposal on Thursday, but previously denied the application in July.

The charter school system as well as Hillsdale College president Larry Arnn came under fire in June when Arnn said at a private Franklin, Tennessee event that "Teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country."

Arnn has been an influential figure in Republican and conservative circles, serving as chair former President Donald Trump's 1776 commission, which was established in the wake of antiracism protests, and growing concerns on the right about K-12 instruction on issues like race.

The commission's report was partly a counter to the 1619 Project teaching series based on a New York Times Magazine project, focusing on the lasting effects of slavery in the U.S.

Gov. Bill Lee and education commissioner Penny Schwinn met and attended several events hosted by Hillsdale in 2021. At one of these events, Arnn said he wanted to open 50 new Hillsdale-backed charter schools in Tennessee.

These conversations and meetings led Lee to announce a partnership with Hillsdale at his State of the State address.

In that speech, Lee said K-12 curriculum in Tennessee needs "true American history, unbiased and nonpolitical."

Though Lee grew silent regarding the college, following Arnn's controversial comments.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: AMA charter school fails