Khalil McIver used to sit quietly at his old school, too respectful to tell his teachers that he was bored. Now, the Atlanta Heights Charter School fifth grader is tackling ninth-grade reading and math and he doesn’t want politics to impede his progress.
"Don't shut our school down, it's terrifying for the students,” said McIver, worried that the last day of classes could mean the end of operations for Atlanta Heights, one of 16 campuses approved by the now defunct Georgia Charter Schools Commission.
Friday, a legislative subcommittee will convene to begin brainstorming ideas to help students like McIver continue their education after the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the state board that authorized their public schools. The May ruling affects potentially 15,000 students, including the 400 at Atlanta Heights, a $6 million new campus with Promethean interactive whiteboards in classrooms and an iPad lab.
The committee will review all options -- from transfers to vouchers -- to ensure students from the affected schools have a seamless transition in the fall. Some of their schools are in jeopardy of being stuck without a legal charter because the preferred path to keeping their doors open could be stymied by hard feelings. Local school districts have approved more than 150 charter schools. But most of the schools authorized by the state commission opened after being rejected by their local districts.
Kay Madati, board chairman of Atlanta Heights, said when he reached out to Atlanta Public Schools' charter school director Allen Mueller he was told it was "too late" for the current process: "At this time APS is not planning to fund or authorize the charter schools which our board has denied and which subsequently appealed to and were approved by the Commission. We need to stay true to our process ... Our resources are going toward the two charters approved last year that are opening this summer and those schools currently going through our application process." Mueller wrote in an email Madati shared with the AJC.
Madati said closing the school, which met federal achievement standards in its first year, would be a loss for a high-poverty community. "This is a brand new facility on a large plot of land that allows us to grow," he said. "We want to continue to serve students.”
APS officials stand behind their record of approving charters. "We continue to strongly support the development and maintenance of high-performing charter schools under control and management of local boards," said Keith Bromery, spokesman for the district.
Other commission schools are having more luck.
Gwinnett Schools officials say Ivy Preparatory Academy, a charter that it sued, and administrators are close to reaching an understanding about what it will take to get recommended for approval. Cherokee County Schools officials have called a June 30 meeting to consider the revised petition of the Cherokee Charter Academy to open a school this fall. The Museum School of Avondale Estates is submitting a petition to DeKalb County Schools.
Local, state and federal dollars. Now, without local district approval, the 16 commission charters could lose their local share, an estimated $40 million and about half of their budgets. That loss would continue even if they appealed to the state Board of Education for approval, which entitles them to only federal and state funding.
Millar said the subcommittee will explore whether additional financial aid could be pulled from the $400 million federal Race to the Top grant awarded to Georgia for its commitment to school reform. The committee also may explore vouchers as a "last resort."
A 2007 Georgia law currently offers vouchers to students with disabilities under the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act, allowing them to use public funds to pay for schools they believe will best serve their kids. Millar said a similar program could be introduced in the special legislative session this summer for commission charter students. "By a majority vote in the House and the Senate and with the governor’s signature, we could put them on a special voucher program.”
Vouchers, however, could be an uphill fight in a tight budget year, especially since there are public schools waiting to welcome students.
“I am sure the local school districts will help the students find a place," said Angela Palm, policy director, of the Georgia School Boards Association.
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