Gwinnett County school board members voted Thursday in favor of a one-year extension of a program with the state that some principals and others say gives teachers greater flexibility in the classroom.
The county first reached an agreement with the state in 2009 on the Investing in Educational Excellence Partnership, better known as IE2. The contract is about to expire. Gwinnett officials say the program has allowed schools to be more creative in their curriculum, resulting in higher test scores.
“We believe it has pushed us to a higher standard,” Stacey Schepens, principal of Crews Middle School in Lawrenceville, said at a brief public hearing Thursday on the partnership.
The partnerships allows school systems to have flexibility in 13 areas, including class size and core curriculum.
It is a potentially-risky program for local school systems. If any school has not met its performance goals for at least three consecutive years of the contract, the school system will lose governance of that school.
Gwinnett is one of three school districts in the partnership, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s website. The others are Forsyth County Schools and the Rabun County School District.
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