Board of Education Revokes Knowledge Academies Charter

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – (Aug. 27, 2019)  –  The Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education  revoked the charter of Knowledge Academies, an Antioch operator of three schools in southeast Davidson County. 

The board vote sets in motion  a series of  actions that  could lead to the closure  of  Knowledge Academy’s  charter-school operations.  The three schools – Knowledge Academy, KA  @ the Crossings and Knowledge High School  –  had 549 students as of today, according to a district count. The number enrolled  at the end of the 2018-19 school year was 869. 

The board took separate votes on each of the three school contracts.  A motion to revoke the charter of each school received a unanimous 8-0 vote. A second motion to proceed with immediate closure effective Dec. 19, 2019 based on findings around fraud, misappropriation of funds and flagrant disregard for the charter agreement for each school passed with a 6-2 vote. 

The action follows months of investigation by the district’s Office of Charter Schools,  which  identified  a series of  financial, academic and operational  concerns. 

Among those concerns: 

• Knowledge Academies signed a management agreement  with Nobel Education Initiative without communicating with the  district,  an action that constituted a material change in the contract  and would require a contract amendment.  

• Knowledge Academies failed to meet or make sufficient progress toward the performance expectation set forth in the charter agreement.  

• Knowledge Academies failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management.  

Knowledge Academies may appeal the  board’s decision to the state Board of Education, and they have 10 calendar days to do so.  The state Board of Education would  have 60 days to conduct a review, which would include a public hearing.  

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