Ivy Preparatory Academy held a lottery Saturday to select a new class of sixth graders even as a pending state Supreme Court case threatens to shut down the school.
EdisonLearning is printing brochures advertising enrollment for Provost Academy, which will accept 800 students, and vows to stand behind the school no matter what.
Charter schools are awaiting a state Supreme Court opinion this week that will decide whether they are allowed to continue operating. The schools are standing their ground and beginning to make back-up plans so they can keep educating students in their care.
Mark Peevy, executive director of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, said he has been in talks with state officials and school operators about what to expect if the legal battle over local control of public education dissolves the commission. The state commission is facing a constitutional challenge filed by seven metro Atlanta school districts who say it illegally approves and funds charter schools.
The commission has approved 17 schools -- nine of which serve students and anticipate a combined enrollment of more than 15,000 students in the fall.
“All of them understand the situation,” Peevy said. "If there is a result that negatively impacts the commission, I expect to have some very expedient conversations about what state legislators might be able to do.”
The constitutional challenge, which was launched in 2009, is the first in the nation against an alternate authorizer of charter schools that could leave students in limbo if it were struck down.
The court could uphold the 2010 Fulton County Superior Court ruling supporting the commission or rule against it, disbanding the board. The court could suggest accommodations for students if it rules the commission lacks constitutional authority.
Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, said the schools should have never been approved and funded "without involving the local school board.”
Commission charter schools are fully funded like other public schools with federal, state and a matching share of local education dollars carved from the state allocations of the districts students leave.
Ivy Prep Academy took bold steps recently to make sure its brand of public educationremains. Head of School Nina Gilbert filed an application with Gwinnett County Public Schools, the district that rejected its petition for a school in 2007 and later sued them in Fulton County Superior Court for opening. Gilbert wants to open a K-12 campus to serve more girls and offer a college-prep option for boys.
"I think that after three years of strong academic performance, it is my hope that Gwinnett will recognize that it would be very beneficial for the students of Gwinnett for us to form a partnership," Gilbert said.
Sloan Roach, spokeswoman for Gwinnett Schools said the district received two applications from Ivy Prep for charter schools in Gwinnett.
“They will be reviewed based on the merit of each application,” Roach said. The rejection of Ivy Prep’s initial petition, she said, will not influence the process.
Ivy Prep, which held a lottery Saturday, accepted 160 new students for the fall and waitlisted more than 130.
State Rep. Alisha Morgan, who picked numbers in Ivy Prep's lottery said the commission has her support: “The worst thing we could possibly do is negatively impact the lives of these students by ripping them away from their public schools.”
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