The Metro school board denied KIPP Nashville further operations in the district after a split vote Tuesday.
Both schools up for consideration were rejected during a called special meeting in a 5-4 vote. Board members Tyese Hunter, Sharon Gentry, Mary Pierce and Elissa Kim dissented.
The consideration of the two applications was part of a continuation of a debate that caused a standstill among board members last week. Gentry, the board chairwoman, was absent from the Aug. 11 meeting.
Both KIPP Nashville schools were recommended for approval by the district’s charter review committees after a second submission process. The committee that recommended the charter the second time came under fire by board member Will Pinkston.
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The decision by the board didn’t sit well with KIPP Nashville founder Randy Dowell. KIPP Nashville applied based on what the board said it wanted in 2013 from charter applicants, he said, including serving areas of high need.
“These applications were right in line with those, and now the board is shifting position,” Dowell said. “We’ve done what the district has asked of us every single time.”
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