Charter school files suit against Metro Nashville Public Schools over redistricting plan

On January 22, 2025By Littum

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A lawsuit has been filed against Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) by LEAD Public Schools, a free public charter school in Nashville.

LEAD Public Schools said the lawsuit stems from the approval of a restructuring plan by the MNPS School Board during a November meeting.

The redistricting plan is for students in the Antioch, Glencliff and Hillsboro clusters.

LEAD Public Schools said the plan will affect LEAD Cameron Middle School, a zoned public charter school located in the Glencliff cluster.

The complaint filed by LEAD Public Schools alleges that the decision by the MNPS School Board makes LEAD Cameron Middle School a school of choice instead of a zoned school.

LEAD Public Schools said this violates a contractual partnership between LEAD Public Schools, Inc., Cameron College Prep, Nonprofit LLC and the MNPS School Board. A partnership LEAD said MNPS sought to help LEAD Cameron improve after the middle school was labeled a “priority school” because of its poor test performance and low graduation rates.

LEAD states in the lawsuit that families in the Glencliff clusters will be notified in December that their zoned middle school is Margaret Allen Middle School and that parents will not be informed that LEAD Cameron is still only an option.

LEAD Public Schools released the following statement:

LEAD Public Schools is very disappointed with the MNPS board’s decision to reassign LEAD Cameron students to Margaret Allen Middle in what appears to be a maneuver to boost enrollment at a low-performing school. High-quality public schools are important to all communities, and this realignment plan will move students from the best middle school option in their area to a priority school.

The decision to reassign the students from LEAD Cameron to Margaret Allen Middle is not only in the best interest of the families, it is also in violation of LEAD’s charter agreement with MNPS. The agreement states that LEAD Cameron is a zoned charter school, meaning that any middle school student who lives in the zone attends Cameron unless the student decides to opt out of another school.

Because of this tremendous impact on the community and the violation of our charter agreement, LEAD Public Schools has made the difficult decision to file a lawsuit against MNPS. This is not a decision we came to lightly, but our focus must be on what is best for families and students living in the Cameron community, and that is what we will continue to fight for.