Fulton Superintendent Robert Avossa on Thursday shared a strategic plan that will set new long-term goals for the district and make it more competitive nationally as it becomes the state's largest charter system.
Avossa said the district will use its new-found freedom from state education laws to boost student achievement. He shared the beginnings of a long-range plan to set a framework for change in Fulton that challenges schools to boost SAT scores and graduation rates.
"Right now, our four-year graduation cohort is slightly above the state average, but we are not happy about the fact that it is 70.1 percent," Avossa said at Thursday's school board meeting. "We need to get 90 percent of our students graduating on time. We need to get 100 percent of our students ready for work ... . I feel pretty confident we will be able to deliver these results."
Avossa said the improvements will come as the district focuses on advancing instruction, integrating technology, managing resources and supporting staff development.
School board members voiced support for the idea and the new pathway that will transform education in Fulton.
Last week, the state Board of Education unanimously approved Fulton as a state charter system, an elite designation that releases the district from following state laws governing instructional time, class schedules, teachers' pay, budgets and more. The designation also makes parents decision-makers instead of fundraisers and volunteers only, giving them a larger stake in their schools' success.
It took the district a little more than two years to complete the charter system application process from idea and community outreach to approval.
"We want to say thank you to the community who have provided so much input over the past couple of years," school board president Linda Schultz said during a reception at Dunwoody Springs Elementary."We have a lot of work ahead of us."
Fulton will spend the next school year training principals and parents to work on governance teams to transform schools.
Training for principals begins in July as school leaders volunteer to be among the first group allowed to join the charter. Elections for parents will be held in October and November.
In other business, the school board voted unanimously to tentatively approve the $810.5 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2013. The budget does not raise taxes or call for teacher layoffs or furlough days.
The district is facing a $32.7 million budget shortfall that will be filled largely with reserve funds and cost-cutting. A pay freeze is planned for staff.
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