Cherokee schools Superintendent Frank Petruzielo has warned that approving the application for Cherokee Charter Academy will cost taxpayers and teachers money.
To raise $3.4 million for a school of 500, he said, the school board would have to consider either laying off 55 teachers, increasing furlough days, eliminating step raises, hiking taxes or siphoning reserves.
With 995 kids, Cherokee Charter's proposed enrollment, the school would have an even larger impact, he said.
So instead the superintendent will present Friday a staff rewrite of the academy’s community-inspired proposal that keeps its enrollment at 500 and makes the school assume more financial responsibility. The school board will take up the charter school issue at a meeting set for 6 p.m. Friday at the Cherokee High School auditorium at 930 Marietta Highway in Canton.
The rewrite clearly compels the school's governing board to assume control of hiring, debt and contracting services as well as pay fees for special education services supplied by the Cherokee school system.
"I didn't want the board in a position of not being able to vote for a responsible charter school petition that addresses all of the deficiencies that we have continually pointed out," Petruzielo said.
"If we as a board are going to put our name on a school, it needs to meet our standards,” said Janet Read, a Cherokee school board member who added that many people are calling her voicing concerns about the school.
"I’m trying to consider not only the 995 students in the Cherokee Charter Academy, but the over 38,000 already enrolled in our traditional public schools. This would have a financial impact on our budget,’’ she said.
Some members of the foundation proposing the academy take issue with the rewrite.
"What the superintendent has done has nothing to do with our petition," said Danny Dukes, a charter school board member. "We have offered time and time again to sit down and have a collaborative run-through of our entire petition and to consider constructive criticism. They have refused to do so."
Cherokee Charter Academy is one of 16 schools whose operating contracts were voided when the state Supreme Court dismantled the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, a decision that affected 16, 500 students. The high court ruled that the authorization process was unconstitutional and local schools have the sole franchise authority on approving neighborhood charter schools.
Other changes the superintendent wants in the school's latest petition include language saying the governing board would allow the budget to be reviewed and approved by the Cherokee school board prior to adoption. The district also asks the school to open its finances annually for an inspection by the school district's Office of Financial Management Internal Audit Department.
Dukes said the district is acting like a "dictator."
“Our charter requires an independent certified accountant to audit our numbers,” he said.
Petruzielo said changing the budget language could be a deal breaker and that the board could not just be “handed down a budget when all of the big decisions have been made."
“We need to be sure that there is no mischief here with regards to how the public’s money is used,” he said.
In addition, the school also would have to participate in the Race to the Top initiative. That would mean it would have to increase teacher pay and adopt a new performance evaluation system. Cherokee schools are slated to receive $2.8 million in federal funds for the school reform program.
Parent Kelly Anfuso is still optimistic. She said there is no “good reason” the board should vote no on the charter school.
“We are not anti-public school, we are pro kids,” she said. “We are just looking for the best fit.”
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