Overruling Shelby County Schools, State Board approves new Memphis charter school

Over objections from leaders of Shelby County Schools, Tennessee’s State Board of Education on Friday unanimously approved an appeal by Green Dot Public Schools to open a charter school in Memphis.

Local district leaders in Memphis quickly denounced the decision and stuck by their school board’s unanimous vote in August to deny Green Dot’s application. Shelby County Schools will not reverse course and authorize the new school, they said in a statement.

That means the State Board likely will become Green Dot’s authorizing agent, in accordance with state law that gives a local board 30 days after a reversal to authorize the school before the state steps in. It also means that Green Dot, a California-based network that already operates four Memphis charter schools, will expand its Tennessee footprint next year with a new high school in the city’s Hickory Hill area.

In overruling Shelby County Schools, the State Board followed the recommendations of Executive Director Sara Heyburn and her staff on Green Dot as well as on two other appeals. The board affirmed local board decisions denying the appeals of Pathways in Education and Rocketship to open charter schools in Memphis and Nashville, respectively.

Leaders with Green Dot said they were excited about the board’s decision, while leaders with the Memphis district issued this statement:

“We were surprised to learn today that the State approved the charter application of Green Dot Public Schools. We stand by our Board’s decision to deny Green Dot’s application based on the poor performance of its four local schools. Without proven success in Memphis, we feel this decision sets a difficult precedent and sends a confusing message to parents and the community about the importance of school quality. Though the State now has an opportunity to serve as an authorizer for Green Dot, Shelby County Schools will not be authorizing another Green Dot school for the 2017-18 school year.”

The previous day, State Board members heard from the district in a letter saying that local leaders “vehemently disapproved” of Heyburn’s recommendation.

Megan Quaile, executive director of Green Dot Public Schools Tennessee, and national CEO Marco Petruzzi listen to school board members in Memphis last August. (Laura Faith Kebede)

Heyburn told board members Friday that her staff differed with Shelby County Schools on its assessment of Green Dot’s past academic success. The state’s review committee examined the network’s track record in California, as well as achievement scores for its Memphis schools, and found Green Dot “more than surpassed academic expectations,” she said.

Friday’s vote was the second time in Tennessee’s charter history that the State Board has overruled a local board’s denial of a charter application. Last October, the board unanimously approved the appeals of California-based KIPP to open two charter schools in Nashville, against the objections of the Nashville school board. The State Board became the authorizing agent of those schools as well.