Politics & Government

Charter Petitions Run into Questions

The schools face rejection unless they can answer the concerns brought to the Cobb Board of Education.

None of the five charter school petitions on the Cobb County Board of Education’s agenda Wednesday will carry a positive recommendation into the board’s regular meeting June 23, if they make it to that meeting at all.

The , which has dropped “Imagine” from the start of its name as it severs its relationship with management company Imagine Schools, requested and was granted a 30-day delay in the consideration of its petition for a five-year renewal of its charter.

That was the only petition for which the administration didn’t have a recommendation. Superintendent Fred Sanderson recommended rejection for the other four.

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The stated rationale for each recommendation was the same: “Several concerns exist including, but not limited to: accountability, financial planning, facility, and planned services to federally identified populations of students.”

Noting the similarity in the criticisms of all the petitions, East Cobb board member Scott Sweeney and South Cobb member David Morgan suggested the school district do more to lay out the requirements upfront and to direct people to organizations such as the Georgia Charter Schools Association that could help them through the process.

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One of the four, the , packed the meeting room with sign-carrying children and had three of the four speakers during the public-comment session.

The 5-year-old Mableton school is seeking a two-year charter extension and, like its sister school in Smyrna, is considering breaking with Imagine Schools.

“I think the school is doing an outstanding job in educating students,” the Rev. Thaddeus Jones, a school parent, told the board. “It seems to me the kids are being punished for some perceived slights of the managing companies. That’s a travesty of justice. … As elected officials and as parents, we have a responsibility to make sure our kids are learning.”

Robert Benson, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, offered a sample of the concerns about the school, including overstated estimates for enrollment growth and a curriculum that is not special except for the proposed adoption of the International Baccalaureate program. The IB organization has not accepted the school.

Benson did not have information at hand on the school’s academic results.

“If we remember why we’re here, which is to provide the best opportunity for our students, the least we could do is go by and visit,” said Artesius Miller, whose younger sister attends the school.

Imagine and the other petitioners did not see the school district’s reports on them until the meeting. Rather than ask them to respond on the spot, board Chairwoman Alison Bartlett promised the schools five minutes each to address the board at the June 23 meeting.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports that the Mableton school also asked for and received a 30-day extension, which school district representatives confirmed today.

The other petitions came from proposed schools: Foundation Charter School Inc. (Cobb Charter Academy), STEAM Academy of Cobb and Turning Point Charter Leadership Academy School of Excellence.

It’s Foundation’s third consecutive year petitioning for a school. No one attended the meeting on behalf of the petition, so the board placed it on the consent agenda for rejection June 23.

STEAM, which also petitioned the , and Turning Point representatives will have a chance to speak that night, and their proposals are on the discussion agenda, albeit with negative recommendations.


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