American Classical Education Announces Intent to Apply for Charter Schools in Five Tennessee Counties

American Classical Education (ACE) informed the Tennessee Department of Education and school boards of education in five counties – Rutherford, Montgomery, Madison, Maury, and Robertson – in separate letters last week it intends to apply for public school charters to operate classical schools in those five counties.

“We’ve filed our letters of intent with the school districts and the department,” Dolores Gresham, an ACE board member, former Tennessee State Senator, and former Senate Education Committee Chair, told The Tennessee Star.

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Georgia-Pacific Announces $425 Million Investment in Jackson, Tennessee

Georgia-Pacific announced Monday that it would invest at least $425 million to construct a Dixie manufacturing facility in Jackson, Tennessee.

Fernando Gonzalez, Georgia-Pacific’s president of consumer business, said, “Although we have invested to expand existing sites, this is the first new Dixie plant the company has built since 1991. This added capacity will help us meet the needs of our customers as consumer demand for high-quality, durable paper plates and bowls continues to grow.”

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Tennessee Investigation Found Madison County Commissioner Unlawfully Charged $115K in ‘Gratuities’ for Officiating Marriages

A Madison County commissioner was found to have collected more than $115,000 in fees from 1,970 marriages unlawfully, according to an investigation from the state of Tennessee’s Comptroller office.

The commissioner would charge a $60 fee for marriages even though commissioners “may not charge a fee or demand any other form of compensation.”

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Madison County Republican Mayoral Nominee Sought Votes from Democrats, Independents in Republican Party Primary

Evidence points to the Madison County Republican mayoral nominee pursuing and receiving votes from Democrats and independents in the Republican Party primary held on May 3.

A.J. Massey in a three-way race won the Republican primary for Madison County mayor with just over 50 percent of the nearly 10,000 votes cast in the primary that saw 19 percent turnout, according to Madison County’s election results.

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Northam to Stand Down on Church Ban: God Wins

After losing in court last week, Governor Ralph Northam agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by four Madison County men who argued that the governor’s restrictions on churches violated the Virginia Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Virginia statute for religious freedom. According to The Roanoke Star, the only COVID-19 restrictions remaining against Virginia churchgoers after the Tuesday decision is the mask mandate.

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Madison County Judge Sets Back Efforts to Recall School Board Members in Tennessee

One group’s mission to give all Tennessee voters the power to recall school board members has withered away because of a chancery court judge in Madison County.

As The Tennessee Star reported last month, members of the Tennessee General Assembly proposed a law that would have given voters statewide the power to recall school board members. But legislators later watered down the bill so that it would apply only to Madison County, and they later passed it into law.

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Madison County Health Official Indicted on Theft Charges

  A grand jury has indicted the former Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department Program Director on one count of theft over $1,000 and one count of official misconduct, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. “During the period July 1, 2014, through October 1, 2018, Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department Program Director Rachel Thomas improperly returned various items purchased for the TennCare Kids program,” according to the audit. “As program director, Thomas was responsible for purchasing materials that would benefit children of the community and handled all purchases and all vendor receipts associated with the program. This allowed her to create an eReceipt after the purchase that she would later use to return the purchased items for cash ($903.61) or gift cards ($429.23) instead of remitting the refunds back to the program.” The audit went on to say Thomas completed 33 return transactions, which resulted in her receiving $1,332.84 that she kept for personal gain. Thomas returned $149.09 after JMCRHD officials questioned her about her returns. That left an outstanding balance of $1,183.75 owed to JMCRHD from the return transactions. Thomas lost her job in September of last year, auditors wrote. “On April 9, 2019, Thomas admitted to…

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Tennessee School Districts Fighting School Vouchers Turn in Lackluster Academic Results, State Figures Reveal

The five school systems in Tennessee that have come out to formally oppose school vouchers haven’t exactly done that great of a job preparing students for college. This, according to statewide statistics members of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission reported last week. As The Tennessee Star reported, representatives from some of these school systems said they have higher academic standards than charter schools. About 67 percent of Madison County students who went off to college needed remedial math classes. Almost 45 percent of them need remedial reading, according to the figures. Exactly 62.7 percent of students coming out of Metro Nashville Public Schools, meanwhile, had to take a remedial math course. About 47 percent of those students needed a remedial reading class, according to statistics. Also in Nashville, 90 percent of students at Maplewood Comprehensive High School who went off to college needed remedial math. About 76 percent needed remedial reading courses. Almost 92 percent of students at White’s Creek Comprehensive High School needed remedial math, and 78 percent of them needed remedial reading. For Stratford Comprehensive High School, 88 percent needed remedial math courses. More than 73 percent of the students needed remedial reading. Christiane Buggs, who represents District…

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