Nashville Global Academy

'Bad' Charter School May Close Over $400K Debt: Global Academy Is One Of Nashville's First Charter Schools, June 29, 2010, WSMV.com (Nashville, TN)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- More than 150 parents might need to quickly find a new school for their kids, as Nashville Global Academy -- one of the city's first charter schools -- could be shut down this week.

"This is a serious issue," said Metro School Board Chairman David Fox. "This is clearly a bad charter school."

Metro Schools leaders said Global Academy in Whites Creek owes the district at least $400,000 for the reimbursement of fuel, food services, employee benefit bills and BEP, or per-student funding…

Global Academy had already been on probation this year for a number of incidents, including a child being left on a bus and for creating a fourth grade when the charter didn't allow it. Now with these money problems, the Metro School Board will decide Thursday whether the school's charter should be revoked…

2 comments:

The Perimeter Primate said...

Nashville officials study charter school's failure: Global Academy's closing prompts review of funding, THE TENNESSEAN • July 2, 2010:

"Metro Nashville officials are considering changes to the way charter schools receive money in light of a failed charter that owes the district, teachers and vendors almost $500,000.

"Nashville Global Academy closed this week after mounting debt and administrative troubles made a second year unlikely. The charter school is the second in Tennessee to be closed since the law creating them was passed in 2002..."

The Perimeter Primate said...

Nashville school's failure leads to closer look at charter applications, THE TENNESSEAN • July 16, 2010:

The collapse of a Nashville charter school is increasing attention to the way new charters are managed and triggering changes to protect the school district against bad business practices.

Nashville Global Academy closed this month after sinking $500,000 into debt, leaving its 155 students to look for other options. The school still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to the district and has not produced financial reports requested by school administrators.

The debacle is making the district and new charter school providers more sensitive to what can happen when a charter is approved without proper planning.

"It reaffirms that well-intentioned people don't always make decisions that are well researched or well founded," said Marsha Edwards, head of the Martha O'Bryan Center. "It's easy to get into trouble when you're operating a complex business."...

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100716/NEWS04/7160349/1970