The Fulton County School board voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to terminate the charter of Fulton Science Academy High School, citing a long list of violations of its charter including financial problems that have plagued the school since 2008.
Fulton Schools superintendent Robert Avossa said the emphasis now would be in finding new schools for the charter academy’s approximately 250 students. For those who choose to stay, the school will remain open for the rest of the school year, closing in June. Avossa said there is ample capacity for other Fulton schools to absorb the students who leave
The school had appealed Avossa’s recommendation that its charter be terminated, which the superintendent said was not a decision he made lightly. “We’re never pleased when we need to end a relationship with a school,” said Avossa after the 5-hour hearing at Fulton Schools headquarters. “It’s never easy, but it’s something we have to do in terms of accountability.”
Randall Morgan, chairman of the academy’s governing board, said afterward the school hopes to prevail when it case goes before the state board of education, which makes the final determination. “We are disappointed by what happened here today, but this is part of the process,” said Morgan. “This is not the end of the day.”
The school’s attorney Rocco Testani argued that the district’s report on the school’s many alleged failings — including forcing graduating seniors to pay money to take required courses on-line — “is inaccurate in may respects and incomplete in others. We need to take a deep breath and dial down the hyperbole.”
In his presentation, Fulton County Schools Chief of Strategy and Innovation Officer Kenneth Zeff repeatedly said the school’s enrollment and finances are in a “downward spiral” and, despite a newly-composed board, “this is not a hole they can dig themselves out of.”
In December the Fulton School Board voted to terminate sister school Fulton Science Academy Middle School’s charter. The state agreed, terminating that school last May. Avossa said the district has had “numerous issues” with the school and its governance boards going back to 2007. He dodged a question afterward whether the district will now consider revoking the charter of the third sister school, Fulton Science Academy Elementary.
Many of the failings the board found with the middle school — poor record keeping and transparency — were again the culprit with the high school, said Avossa, along with an $18.5 million bond the school obtained in November 2011. The school defaulted on that bond in May.
The school’s attorney Testani told the board that the school recently struck a deal with the bank and has been cleared of the debt. He did not give details. School board members said they continue to worry about the school’s financial stability.
“I do not think that they have the financial credibility to continue to operate,” said school board president Linda Shultz who, along with other board members and Zeff, cited the school’s shrinking reserve fund, which is now below $500,000 — about what it takes to operate the school for a month.
Board members said, however, there was no evidence that students were forced to pay the school for on-line classes. According to the district 73 percent of the schools seniors took on-line classes. Board member Linda Bryant said that indicates the school doesn’t have enough students to support enough classes.
School officials said while some of the students chose to pay for the on-line classes, they paid outside vendors, not the school, and the classes were available free of charge. Deborah Ripsco, a parent with an 11th grade in the school said she was disappointed in the board’ s decision, but not surprised.
“Our attorney’s presented factual facts and I don’t think they were given enough credibility,” she said.
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