Williamson County Schools will reconsider a charter application by Founders Classical Academy on July 21.
Previously, the Board of Education denied the proposed charter school application, contending it did not meet certain standards.
The group is allowed to resubmit an application 30 days after the initial ruling and argued that several sections that did not meet the standards are handled by their charter management organization, ResponsiveEd.
“Over the weekend, I did a little bit of reading up on the Founders Classical curriculum, and I found it very interesting and very down to earth,” board member Dan Cash said at the time. “I’d like to thank the committee for the scoring, and the hard work [they] did … but after reviewing all that curriculum, I feel it could be an alternative for parents, maybe a little bit more diversity in our curriculum. Hopefully, Founders Classical will come forward and resubmit in 30 days an application that is more complete.”
If fully approved, the school could potentially open by August 2023 and serve as an alternative for parents.
According to the group, Founders Classical Academies, which already operate in other states, “are tuition-free public charter schools that take an approach to education characterized by traditional liberal arts and sciences with an emphasis on American history and founding principles, as well as an orientation towards truth, beauty, and goodness that aims to cultivate independent thinking, life-long learning and virtuous citizens.”
Founders Classical Academy board member and longtime Williamson County resident Mitch Emoff said in an emailed press release: “This is a huge acknowledgment by the Williamson County Schools, who are known to have one of the best school districts in the state, to approve Founders Classical Academy from an academic perspective. I am not surprised as the classical curriculum offered by Founders Classical Academy focuses on the development of the students by teaching them how to think, not what to think.”
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
