Founders Classical Academy wants to operate in Williamson County: 'We're not Hillsdale'

Organizations aiming to operate a charter school in Williamson County are continuing to distance themselves from Hillsdale College and controversial comments from its president, Larry Arnn.

A spokesperson for ResponsiveEd, the charter management organization for Founders Classical Academy, said the partnership between its company and Hillsdale College ended in mid-2021.

Previous coverage: As Tennessee school boards reject Hillsdale charter applications, Lee faces questions

Read this: Metro Nashville school board again denies 3 charter schools, postpones vote on nature academy

"We do sometimes get put in the boat with them, which is really unfair because we have nothing to do with them," said Mitch Emoff, who sits on the board of Founders Classical Academy. "We've had (people) say, 'We don't like charter schools because of what's happening with Hillsdale.'

"Well, we're not Hillsdale."

In June, Arnn was captured on hidden camera at a private event in Williamson County, saying Tennessee's teachers were trained "in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country," resulting in a flurry of related actions by districts and schools across the region and state. During the event, Gov. Bill Lee praised Arnn.

Meanwhile, the Williamson County Schools board of education on Thursday denied Founders Classical Academy's second application to operate in the county.

In May, the charter school submitted a second application to Williamson County Schools after an initial denial to operate. The district's review committee recommended denying the second application, saying the application materials did not meet the standards required in two of the three categories examined.

Williams County Schools' board members on Thursday accepted the recommendation with a unanimous vote during a special July meeting. Now, Founders Classical Academy plans to appeal to the state's public charter school commission.

Charter schools encounter resistance

This week in Middle Tennessee, proposals for classical charter schools with ties to Hillsdale were denied by the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Rutherford County Schools. While school officials in Rutherford County approved one charter school application, an application tied to Hillsdale was denied.

Earlier this month in Hamilton County, an existing classical charter school in Chattanooga parted ways with the college following Arnn's remarks.

Charter school applicants are judged using the Tennessee Department of Education's scoring rubric, which covers academic, operations, and financial plans and capacity.

In an averaging of the individual rubrics scoring Founders Classical Academy by 14 Williamson County Schools committee members, the overall committee concluded that the operations and financial standards were not up to par.

"Based on this fact and the committee’s review, the charter school review committee does not recommend approval of the Founders Classical Academy K-12 charter application," read a letter from Leigh Webb, committee chair and assistant superintendent of secondary schools.

Committee members said the school's academic intents and outlook were clearer. However, most added that the outlined academic plans don't align with Tennessee's academic and testing standards, such as the intent to use Singapore Math for mathematics instruction.

In terms of operations, members wrote that while the involvement of an experienced charter management such as ReponsiveEd helped support the applicant's case, the application showcased weaknesses in areas like the following:

• Lack of a decided school facility and its facility's needs.

• Confusion around the separation of roles between ResponsiveEd and its local nonprofit sponsor, Del Rey Education Inc.

• At least seven members felt non-discrimination policies related to students' sexual orientation were unclear.

• Most members wrote that the outlined budget didn't appear sufficient.

Meeting standards here, not there

Leaders at the charter school were pleased that its application met the standards expected for academics in Williamson County. Yet Sumner County's review and eventual denial of an identical application showed Emoff that district review processes vary.

"Sumner County approved seven sections of the operational section that Williamson County did not approve," he said. "It's the same application, with the same answers, with the same rubric."

Emoff said his organization is working to address the Sumner County decision by appealing to the state's charter school commission.

Next steps: Charter schools in Williamson County?

Emoff said he knew launching a local charter would be challenging.

"Absolutely," Emoff said ahead of Thursday's vote in Williamson County. "If you look at the history of Tennessee charter approvals, it's like less than 10% get approved by the local (districts).

"I wouldn't be surprised when they vote no, because it's kind of baked into the cake that they don't want other schools infringing on their turf."

After all, Williamson County Schools and its board of education has historically denied charter school applications. If Founders Classical Academy is eventually approved, the school would become the county's first charter school.

Earlier this year though, the board approved a resolution that publicly urged state lawmakers to "take no action advancing" a recent state bill easing the entrance of charter school operators in Tennessee school districts.

"The proposed legislation reduces local decision-making on issues that are best made by local elected bodies with knowledge of local conditions," the resolution read.

The Founders Classical Academy team will now have the chance to appeal to the state's public charter school commission within 10 days. If the state commission approves the school, the district would relinquish governance of the school, according to new policy approved by the district in June.

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Emoff believes he has enough support to operate a successful, classical school in Williamson County and hopes to bring the tuition-free option to the community, even with the board's denial Thursday.

"What a tragedy if we can't open a school that we have the academic approval from Williamson County, we have the history of running the schools and the school would fill up day one,' he said.

"(Prospective students) are all going to private schools and homeschooling. ... It'd be a tragedy for these parents, and quite frankly, for Williamson County Schools."

Anika Exum is a reporter covering Williamson County at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Reach her at aexum@tennessean.com, 615-347-7313 or on Twitter @aniexum. 

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Charter school aims to operate in Williamson County