Tess Stovall

Tess Stovall

2015 NACSA Leader

Tess Stovall serves as the Director of Charter School Accountability and Policy for the Tennessee State Board of Education. In this role, she manages the charter school application process and authorization duties of the State Board. Prior to joining the staff of the board, she served as the Transformation Facilitator at Cameron Middle School, the first district-led conversion of a traditional public school to a charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Tess has also worked for Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-05) and a centrist think tank, Third Way, on economic and education policy in Washington, DC. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and Sociology and a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned  a Master of Science Degree in Political Sociology.


Most Recent Posts
How to Communicate about School Closures
Few conversations in authorizing are harder than the ones about a school that is changing form or closing its doors. Whether you’re merging, consolidating, or closing a school, you know...
Montessori Applications Are Coming. Is Your Authorizer Office Ready?
Does your charter authorizing team know what a strong Montessori school application looks like? Charter schools were created to try new ways of meeting students’ learning needs. But the more...
NACSA statement on recent decision in Oklahoma about religious charter schools
NACSA is disappointed in the recent decision by a federal judge in Oklahoma, allowing The Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to continue with plans to open a religious charter...