Public Charter School with Ties to Hillsdale College Pulls Out of Madison County a Year Before Opening

Exterior of Hillsdale College (Photo by Hillsdale)

The turbulent process to approve Madison County’s first public charter school quietly took another turn just over a year before Madison Classical Academy’s scheduled opening date.

Attorneys for American Classical Education (ACE) notified the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission last month by letter that the charter operator had made the “difficult decision” to terminate its agreement signed in March. ACE was planning to open the Madison Classical Academy in August 2026.

In a statement sent to the Tennessee Firefly, American Classical Academy Board Chair Tricia Stickel said the organization felt it needed to center its attention around American Classical Academy Rutherford that opened last August.

“We had to make the difficult decision to terminate our charter agreement for several reasons including limited real estate to accommodate a K-12 school, wisdom to develop schools slowly and carefully with focused attention on ACA Rutherford for excellence, and limited finances.  Currently we are focused on ACA Rutherford and are looking forward to another year of providing a classical education to those students and families,”  said Stickel.

Charter schools are free public schools operated by an organization under a “charter,” typically with a school district.

Controversial Connections to Hillsdale College

The Madison Classical Academy decision ends a contentious push to establish the first public charter school in the county that began in 2022 when Governor Bill Lee praised Michigan-based Hillsdale College during his State of the State address. American Classical Education applied to open three charter schools that year, featuring Hillsdale’s curriculum, including one in the Jackson-Madison County School System (JMCSS).

All three school boards voted ACE down that summer following the release of a hidden video by Nashville’s News Channel 5, showing Hillsdale President Larry Arnn proclaiming teachers are trained in the “dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges.”

Approval in Jackson

American Classical Education returned in 2023 with charter applications in five school districts, including one in JMCSS that was originally called American Classical Academy Jackson-Madison County. Only Rutherford County Schools voted in favor of ACE’s application.

The charter operator successfully appealed its Madison County application to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission the following October. JMCSS board members quickly approved a lawsuit to fight the decision but opted instead to withdraw it last year.

New Charter School up for Vote

The decision to shutter plans to open Madison Classical Academy leaves the future of public charter schools in Madison County in the hands of school board members.

This week, they’re scheduled to vote on an application from the proposed kindergarten through sixth-grade Jackson Museum School.