A former Atlanta Public Schools principal who district investigators said violated state standards for honesty and professional conduct and local policies for ethics and graduation requirements has been hired as the new principal of an Atlanta charter school.
Charcia Nichols, a former principal of Atlanta’s Washington High School, will serve as principal of Ivy Preparatory Academy Kirkwood School for Girls for the 2016-17 school year. The school’s board is scheduled to ratify her hiring at their meeting Tuesday.
“The Ivy community excitedly welcomes Dr. Nichols with open arms,” Ivy Prep Executive Director Alisha Morgan said in a written statement. “We believe Dr. Nichols is the right leader to help carry out the mission [and] vision we have set for Ivy Prep Academies.”
Nichols has 21 years of experience as a teacher and administrator, according to the statement.
While leading Atlanta's Washington High School's School of Banking, Finance and Investment, Nichols gave some students preferential treatment and allowed them to receive grades they had not earned, Atlanta school district investigators found.
Atlanta Public Schools referred Nichols’ case to the state commission that oversees educator licenses. The commission opted not to investigate because it was considered a local issue, Georgia Professional Standards Commission Director of Educator Ethics Paul Shaw said. The commission did not sanction Nichols.
Nichols eventually resigned from her Atlanta school position because the small school she led was closed, Ivy Prep spokeswoman D. Aileen Dodd said in a written statement.
Ivy Prep officials were aware of “Atlanta Public Schools’ allegations,” Dodd said in a written statement.
The Kirkwood school is overseen by the state charter school commission. It serves students from Atlanta and DeKalb County.
Ivy Prep currently operates the Kirkwood school and an all-girls school in Gwinnett County.
Two other charter schools once operated by the organization have been closed by Ivy Prep or the state commission for financial problems and other issues.
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