Local charter school network LEAD Academy is suing Metro Nashville Public Schools over a change to the school’s classification. A new rezoning plan from MNPS will reclassify LEAD Cameron Middle School as a “choice” school, rather than a zoned school, requiring families to opt into Cameron rather than opt out. Attorneys for LEAD argue this violates contracts signed by the city, which made LEAD Cameron the default zoned public school for a large swath of South Nashville in 2010.
The MNPS school board approved a 2025-26 rezoning plan at a Nov. 12 meeting despite stiff opposition from alumni, students, teachers and administrators from LEAD, a six-school network based in Nashville. Attorney Justin Marsh, representing LEAD, sent a warning letter to school board members in advance, arguing that MNPS’ rezoning was “contrary to its contractual obligations in the 2021 Charter Agreement.” Marsh and LEAD made good on the litigation threat, filing a lawsuit on Dec. 16 alleging MNPS’ breach of contract.
Nashville initially granted Cameron Middle School, then a traditional MNPS public school, to the LEAD charter network in 2010 following several years of poor academic performance. Unlike other charters, which require an application process, LEAD Cameron stayed a zoned school, remaining the default enrollment option for nearby families. Over the next decade, performance metrics dramatically improved. More than 500 students are currently enrolled at LEAD Cameron in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
At a tense meeting, the board also refrained from passing a ‘family life policy’
Despite repeated references to Cameron as a “zoned” school in charter contracts, documents do not explicitly guarantee the classification. Now that LEAD Cameron has accomplished its turnaround, school board members see a rezoning as well within the body’s legal rights. The new plan would rezone LEAD Cameron families to nearby Margaret Allen Middle School, where enrollment has declined by more than 40 percent since 2019. Students could still apply to LEAD Cameron, but the school would no longer be the MNPS default.
“Cameron, like our other charter schools, would be an optional school in alignment with other charters in our districts,” MNPS Director Adrienne Battle told colleagues before the rezoning vote. “We’ve had a review from our legal team as well as our charter office around that particular language. The original agreement does not specifically state that LEAD will function as a zoned charter school.”
Board members tell the Scene they have been told not to comment on the topic citing pending litigation.
LEAD sent a full lineup to the Nov. 12 meeting to speak against the plan. Aggrieved opposition included some hostile comments directed at MNPS; speakers cast the rezone not just as a legal bait-and-switch but as an insult to teachers and a disruption to families.
“I’m here to ask that you deny the proposal that would rezone students from Cameron Middle to Margaret Allen Middle,” LEAD Cameron principal Briana Shelton told the board. “We see the same challenges that a traditional public school encounters and are really energized by that work and want to keep doing it.”
The next speaker, LEAD director of student support Regina Schumacher, claimed LEAD Cameron could serve South Nashville better than MNPS.
“I attended the community meeting held at Glencliff High School on Monday, Oct. 21,” said Schumacher. “There was one person in attendance who did not work for MNPS or LEAD. This community meeting was a farce; it was a box to be checked. If the people who are often the face of the school are unaware of what’s happening, how is it even possible that the families we serve know what’s going on? This lack of communication is unacceptable and is a proof point for why LEAD is a better steward of the South Nashville community.”
At legal issue is the charter contract signed in 2010 and renewed in 2021 between LEAD and MNPS. While language woven throughout does treat LEAD Cameron as a zoned school, no explicit stipulation guarantees that status, as Battle told board colleagues before the November vote. But the lawsuit’s broader focus — the complex power-sharing agreements between charters and local school districts — extends beyond South Nashville.
Administrators and principals have navigated the many distinct relationships between districts and charters since “school choice” became a key political issue a decade ago. Charter networks and appeals processes have flourished under Gov. Bill Lee, who has yet to fully implement his planned universal voucher program. Charter critics decry the destructive spiral that follows the outflow of students and resources from traditional public schools, while proponents stress the transformative power of a market-based education system.
