For two Tennessee public charter schools, approval to open was not enough.
The Rock Academy and the planned Rutherford County campus for Rocketship Public Schools have delayed their openings despite the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) approving their applications to open in Middle Tennessee for the 2026-2027 school year. Both are now scheduled to open in the fall of 2027 because neither school has found suitable buildings, and without them, students have nowhere to learn.
Buildings and Lenders: A Two-Part Challenge
Rocketship Tennessee Executive Director Dr. Eric Dailey told TPCSC members during its Oct. 8 workshop that his organization ran into two major challenges while expanding into Rutherford County. The first was finding an appropriate building. Building a school from the ground up has gradually become more expensive, leaving public charter schools searching for existing properties they can renovate to fit their academic models. The second challenge comes after a property is identified: finding lenders to back a multimillion-dollar school project without years of financial history…