A prominent Atlanta charter school won approval Monday to add more students and build a high school despite early opposition from district Superintendent Erroll Davis.
The Atlanta school board approved a proposal to allow Drew Charter to build a $55 million high school and add about 400 students in kindergarten through the eighth grade.
Drew plans to open the 200,000-square-foot high school in 2013-14 with 100 freshmen. It would add one class per year until the school reaches 600 students in 2023. The school was approved for a five-year charter.
"We're delighted with the approval of our expansion and our high school, and we're happy to renew in five years," said Cynthia Kuhlman, chairwoman of the board of Drew Charter School Inc. "We're excited about the good job we're doing, so we wanted to be able to offer the program to more children."
Davis originally opposed the high school and enrollment expansion, but he reversed his position Monday with a few caveats. Davis wanted Drew to receive a five-year charter rather than 10, to which the board agreed. But Davis recommended the school add only 200 students in early grades for the next three years.
Drew has not been aggressive enough in recent years at recruiting students from the Villages of East Lake, a nearby mixed-income community the school was created to serve, Davis said. As a result, the school's demographics have become more affluent. He proposed a check in three years before allowing the school to further expand its enrollment.
"My concern is if we are going to break the cycle of poverty, there should be impoverished kids in the building," Davis said. "And there should be a check for that."
Drew opened 12 years ago as Atlanta's first charter. About 1,100 students are enrolled in the school's birth-through-eighth-grade program, a holistic education approach that's helped revitalize Atlanta's once-derelict East Lake neighborhood. State data show the school has more black and low-income students meeting or exceeding state standards than any other school in the district.
After a long debate about whether the expansion would hurt efforts to revitalize other schools in east Atlanta, school board members voted to allow Drew to add about 400 elementary and middle students as requested.
"When you have something that works, the question shouldn't be 'Why do you want an additional 200 kids?' The question should be 'How many you can take?' " said at-large board member Courtney English, who supported the expansion.
Drew has influential backers such as former Mayor Shirley Franklin and developer Tom Cousins, a founder. Its pre-kindergarten program receives support from the Cox Foundation. Cox Enterprises is an Atlanta-based communications, auto services and media company whose holdings include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Brenda Smeeton was one of dozens of Drew supporters who attended Monday's meeting dressed in hunter green T-shirts. She chose to send her son to Drew rather than his zoned school, Mary Lin Elementary, and was pleased with Monday's decision.
"We chose Drew because I want to send my son to an economically and racially diverse school," she said. "We wanted to create an intentional community. I think the school has benefited from the economic diversity."
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