The Atlanta school board took a step toward a new structure that gives the district more freedom from some state laws — and potentially a little more money — in exchange for greater state accountability.
At Monday's school board meeting, the Atlanta Public Schools board voted 8-1 to submit a letter of intent to the Georgia Department of Education to apply for "charter system" status.
School districts must submit a letter of intent by June 30 to adopt one of three options. Districts can pick charter status or a model called “Investing in Educational Excellence,” or “IE2,” or reject both the charter and IE2 models. Board member Steven Lee voted against submitting the letter, calling the options allowed the district “bad, worse and god awful.”
The General Assembly adopted these new models in the late 2000s, after districts complained that state rules were tying them down. But Georgia districts have a big financial incentive to pursue either charter status or “IE2.”
Rejecting both options may cause them to lose money-saving waivers that allow them to exceed state caps on class sizes and to cut attendance calendars below the minimum. The waivers, popular during the recession, are still used in most of Georgia’s 180 districts as a way to balance budgets.
Without waivers that allow larger class sizes and other adjustments, Atlanta would need to spend another $30-40 million a year, district officials said.
In charter systems, officials must re-engineer central offices to support decision-making by local school governance councils. Under IE2 there’s no requirement for those governance councils. Both types of systems get waivers.
Earlier this year, an advisory committee of APS educators and administrators, parents and others recommended the district pursue charter system status. A district survey of APS principals found that most supported pursuing the charter system model, according to a board presentation.
Submitting a letter of intent now allows the district to apply for waivers for the upcoming school year and better plan its budget, APS special assistant to the superintendent Angela Smith said.
“I want us to have choices for the future,” Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said. “And that is something that starts diminishing when we don’t take steps in the timeline.”
The school board plans to vote this spring on formally submitting an application to pursue charter system status and, if approved, begin operating under the new model for the 2016-17 school year, according to a board presentation.
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