After being denied by the school board for a variety of reasons, charter operators hope for reversal by Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.
Image: Burrus Cox, co-founder of The Gate School, poses with staff and supporters for a group photo. Image Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner & Canva.
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Article by by Lillian Avedian [The Nashville Banner, Creative Commons] –
Four proposed charter schools seeking to open in Nashville made their case to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission during hearings on Sept. 24 and 25. Music City Academy, the Gate School, Nashville School of Excellence, and Empowerment Academy appealed the Metro Nashville Public Schools board’s denial of their new start applications to the state commission, which can overturn local school board denials.
Music City Academy is a proposed charter high school integrating athletics, academics and career-connected learning. The school would offer career pathways geared toward Nashville’s sports and event industries. Dr. Kevin Dyson, founder of Music City Academy, is a former Tennessee Titan turned educator and former school principal at Centennial High School.
“I grew up loving sports, and I was fortunate enough to turn my passion into a profession,” he said on Sept. 24. “Sports gave me an education, a career, relationships, experiences and opportunities that ultimately led me to NFL, to the classroom, school leadership and ultimately to this moment.
“I want to give students access to the possibilities that I didn’t know existed. Their passion doesn’t have to end whether they make the team or become a professional athlete. It can lead to sports medicine, physical therapy, broadcasting, media, business, technology and so much more.”
Public commenters in support of Music City Academy included Adolpho Birch, a senior vice president for the Tennessee Titans; Dr. Leigh Ann Bussell, a professor of sport and entertainment management at Trevecca Nazarene; and Ashley Allen, a sport management professor at TSU.
The Gate School is a proposed middle school based on a teaching-first model, Harkness-style classroom discussion and purposeful use of technology and AI. In the “teaching firm,” school leaders will teach, and teachers will get to lead without leaving the classroom. Burrus Cox, the school’s co-founder, is a former math teacher at Valor Collegiate Academies and East End Prep.
“The common thread across all three is that technology, staffing and instructional methods are not the goal,” Cox said. “Excellent teaching and stronger student thinking are.
“We want to build a school where every student is known deeply, challenged to do hard things, and surrounded by adults who refuse to let struggle define what they are capable of, a school where excellent teachers help students discover their own confidence, independence and potential.”
Public commenters supporting the Gate School included Jeanne Hubert, associate head of high school at the Ensworth School, and Dr. Diana Smith, a leader of Washington Latin Public Charter School in Washington.
The school’s founders say they are filling a gap at MNPS by providing a rigorous public middle school option. In the school’s target enrollment area, elementary proficiency is about 36 percent in ELA and in math, then drops to 28.8 percent in ELA and 24.4 percent in math in middle school, the founders said on Sept. 25.
Dr. Mason Bellamy, deputy superintendent at MNPS, responded that middle school students across Tennessee generally do not perform as well academically as their elementary school counterparts.
Music City Academy and the Gate School both received high marks from the school district. Music City Academy met standards in its educational program as well as budget and finance and partially met standards in operations. The Gate School met standards in its educational program and operations and partially met standards in budget and finance.
The board’s vote to deny these new start applications largely reflected the potential fiscal impact of opening new charter schools on MNPS. The district released a report estimating that the four charter schools would have a negative fiscal impact of $6,444,510 in their first year of operation and $21,999,919 at their full build-out capacity.
The proposed charter school leaders questioned the district’s estimates, stating that Music City Academy’s projected negative fiscal impact on MNPS would be $401,180 at opening and $504,593 at full enrollment, and the Gate School’s impact would be $469,000 at opening and $499,000 at full enrollment.
Bellamy argued that the student population in Nashville is a “pie, not a well,” that will continue to be divided if more schools open. He said that while funding follows the student under the student-based budgeting formula, the expenditures remain to serve the entire school community, including facilities, transportation, teachers and academic programs.
“You are looking at diluting the power of these dollars for families that have already made a choice,” Bellamy said on Sept. 25. “At some point the commission has to decide between the potential 100 fifth graders there and the 2,000 students that are already sitting in these buildings.”
Tess Stovall, executive director of the commission, responded that under statute, a school board needs to prove that a charter school will have a “substantial negative fiscal impact.”
Nashville School of Excellence is a proposed 6-12 school on Nolensville Pike focused on STEM and CTE pathways. The school is part of the Read Foundation charter network that operates four schools in Memphis. MNPS rated Nashville School of Excellence partially meets standards in its academic program, operations, budget and finance.
Stovall noted that other charter schools in the network demonstrated academic underperformance in the most recent data. In the 2024-25 school year, two of the schools received a D letter grade from the state, and the other two a C letter grade. Stovall also questioned the need for the school when the Nolensville Pike corridor already has a concentration of public schools and high-performing charter operators. The founders responded that the schools have shown recent academic growth with TVAAS Level 3 and 5 scores.
“The long waitlists at nearby charter schools provide a marked signal,” Kazim Kizilkaya, the founding principal of Nashville School of Excellence, said. “They show that families in the corridor continue to seek different educational options.”
The school has received support from organizations including the Salahadeen Center, the Tennessee Kurdish Community Council, Casa de Dios USA and Neighbors in Faith.
Empowerment Academy Nashville is a proposed boys-only elementary school that would open simultaneously with campuses in Shelby and Hamilton counties. The school would partner with African Methodist Episcopal Church and open across the street from St. Luke AME Church, the founders said.
MNPS rated Empowerment Academy partially meets standards in its academic program, operations, budget and finance. The district raised significant concerns with gaps and inconsistencies in the application as well as lack of expertise among the proposed charter school leadership on Sept. 25.
Board president Natisha Brooks launched, then suspended a campaign for Congress in District 6 this year. Brooks accused MNPS of “stealing” the school’s $2,500 new start application fee and not reading the school’s application. Bellamy dismissed her statements as “baseless attacks.”
The Commission will vote on the four proposed charter schools on Oct. 9.
