We've heard from administrators, lawmakers and parents on Gov. Nathan Deal's school takeover proposal. But we haven't seen anything quite like the response from Ivy Preparatory Young Men's Leadership Academy.
The charter school is one of two on Deal's list of 141 perennially failing schools that could be at risk of takeover if lawmakers and voters approve his plan for a new "Opportunity School District."
The school's leaders said Tuesday they weren't waiting on politicians to act to address the declines in the state benchmark exams. Christopher Kunney, who chair's the board of Ivy Preparatory Academies, said the school hired the Yardstick consultancy group in May to help improve student achievement.
The turnaround plan is now being implemented. The changes include an "Ivy University" program led by its founder Nina Gilbert aimed at offering more coaching to teachers. And it launched an outreach initiative to parents to help them work on math and language arts studies with their children at home.
“We all have a stake in their success," said Victoria Wiley, the executive director of Ivy Preparatory Academies. "We will not wait on a tentative state program to step in and fix our school when we as a community can produce results working together hand in hand.”
Deal's proposal would give the state broad new powers to take over struggling schools, convert them to charters or shut them down. But Ivy Prep may not have to fear state intervention any time soon. Deal said Tuesday he was considering whether to exempt charter schools from his program.
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