NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
One of the first things brand new Metro School Board members will vote on is whether to approve Great Hearts Academy's plan to open a charter school in west Nashville.
On Tuesday, the board voted to defer approval indefinitely even though the state was forcing them to approve it.
There is already some movement on this issue, as the state education commissioner met with Metro School Director Jesse Register about the issue on Wednesday, and now it is back on the school board agenda.
But on Thursday, Gov. Bill Haslam put to rest fears the Great Hearts ordeal could threaten funding for Metro schools.
It's up to the State Department of Education to take action, and the commissioner warned that he would take appropriate steps to ensure the school board followed the law and approved Great Hearts. One possibility raised by the state was to withhold state education funds from Metro schools until it follows the law.
On Thursday though, Haslam shot that idea down.
"With education, the discussion should always be about what's best for the students. And, ultimately, we would have to think about what we would do if Metro School Board doesn't go along with what the law is. That being said, threatening money, that's not the business we're in. We're in the business of educating children," Haslam said.
The Great Hearts application will be on the next school board agenda on Sept. 11.
There will be several new members who have not cast a vote on the Arizona-based charter school company's intents to locate in west Nashville.
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