A new development involving a charter school in Gwinnett County offers a glimmer of hope for the parents of roughly 600 children displaced by the collapse of a DeKalb County charter school.
Ivy Preparatory Academy, an all-girls school in Gwinnett, has applied for a state charter to open a new branch in DeKalb -- with the hope of opening soon after the new school year begins.
If Ivy Prep gets the charter, it will move into the Memorial Drive building that Peachtree Hope Charter School occupied, an official with Ivy Prep confirmed. Ivy Prep would divide the building in two, creating one school for girls and another for boys, the school official, Nina Gilbert, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.
Gilbert, who is the head of school, or principal, didn't want to say much else because the state charter application is pending. "We don't want to be presumptuous," Gilbert said. "We have to work with the Department of Education to make sure this could be a seamless transition."
The state Education Department confirmed receipt of the application. It's not on the Aug. 10 state Board of Education agenda yet, Louis Erste, the Georgia charter schools division director, said Friday. But "we are expediting our review and hope to have completed it by the end of next week. It is looking good so far."
Ivy Prep's kindergarten through 12th grade school would fill the empty shoes left by Peachtree Hope, a 1-year-old school that took parents on a roller coaster ride after a Georgia Supreme Court decision in May nullified its charter.
The school was among 16 -- including Ivy Prep -- that were authorized by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. Their charters were voided when the high court ruled that the commission lacked constitutional authority to grant them.
Peachtree Hope, Ivy Prep and several of the others then applied for charters with their local school systems. Applications for Peachtree Hope and Ivy Prep were approved, but Peachtree Hope's was quickly rescinded when DeKalb officials learned that the school had fired its management company.
Peachtree Hope then missed a Wednesday deadline to apply for a special state charter.
Ivy Prep met that deadline, though. Erste, the state charter official, said Ivy Prep could open sometime in August if it gets approval. The state school board vote is two days after the DeKalb school year starts, but children could transfer in, he said.
Gilbert, the Ivy Prep principal, said she has a letter of intent with the building owner to move into the space. The new school's primary mission would be to serve the 200 girls who live in DeKalb and commute to Ivy Prep's Gwinnett campus, she said. She doesn't know how many other seats would be available, but "we want to give the Peachtree Hope families priority," she said.
There will likely be a lottery, but former Peachtree Hope parent Canangela Robertson said she was excited to have the chance. She refuses to put her children in public school, and was doing research on home schooling when she heard about Ivy Prep's plans.
"It's a shot," she said. "There is hope."
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