Five charter providers are applying this summer to open or renew schools in Cobb County.
Thursday, the school board will vote on three applications for new charter schools, while the fate of two existing Imagine charter schools, Smyrna and Mableton, will be decided next month.
District officials are recommending requests be denied for the three new schools, citing a variety of concerns related to instruction, budgeting and management.
Cobb Charter Academy built its budget around unrealistic revenues, district reviewers said. Turning Point Charter didn’t address basics such as how to provide remediation or participation in state-mandated assessments, reviewers wrote. STEAM Academy of Cobb is funded through an excessive fee and loan repayment plan, they added.
The list of concerns for each new school, which ran from nine to 14 pages, was given to applicants earlier this month. Thursday, board members will decide whether the applicants properly addressed the issues and should be allowed to open in fall 2012.
JoAnn Hayward, founder of Turning Point, said if rejected she would apply again next year, but was critical of the process in Cobb.
"It’s a terrible process. I walked away feeling empty, like there was no support there, no mentoring," she said. "As a professional, I don’t think I was given credit. It was very judgmental."
Representatives from STEAM said they would also reapply if denied. Cobb Charter Academy representatives did not return calls for comment.
Two existing schools – Imagine Mableton and Imagine Smyrna – are also seeking an extension, but their fate will be decided at a later date.
Imagine Mableton, which runs a kindergarten through eighth-grade school off Mableton Parkway with about 600 students, asked for a 30-day extension so the school could address the concerns of the district and avoid being lumped in with the other applicants, said Marcus Barber, principal.
District reviewers originally recommended the school's renewal be denied, citing six-pages of issues, which included questions about how student data would be tracked and concerns over unrealistic enrollment estimates and financial stability. According to reviewers, the school is $3.2 million in debt to parent organization Imagine Schools.
But Barber said Imagine Schools has forgiven the debt and he is confident the school can address the concerns before the board makes its decision.
“We are making great progress and doing a wonderful job,” he said. “And I feel confident that the charter will be approved.”
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