Walking out of last week’s Greene County Board of Education (BOE) meeting, most in attendance believed the new charter for Lake Oconee Academy (LOA) was signed, sealed, and delivered – all negotiations complete; acknowledgments made by both Dr. Brad Bowling at LOA and Superintendent Dr. Chris Houston; renewed optimism for a new working relationship among the two to work together for the best needs of children in the county; sighs of relief to those at the meeting who understood the charter application was going to be well on its way to the Georgia Board of Education.
In calls made to LOA to confirm the next steps, the Lake Oconee News learned that negotiations will continue. It appears the ping-pong remedy to align both parties in agreement still stood challenged.
“I was surprised with the number of amendments and changes made back to LOA asking for our consensus,” said Michael Tompkins, chairman of LOA’s board of governors. “There is no consensus; there are egos driving this and statements made that are not accurate. It will go to further discussion as our parents and students expect that of us.”
The BOE asserts a state law must be recognized regarding funding for students who are children of full-time employees and not for children of part-time employees. This has prompted the BOE to review payroll documents to discern that number.
LOA has a lengthy priority admittance waiting list for siblings of current students. Allowing part-time employees that same benefit is seen as ignoring the existing law, according to the BOE.
Tompkins acknowledged this appears to be a sticking point and that “we would possibly would have conceded” before signing.
A press release received by Lake Oconee News says the BOE had approved the five-year charter extension.
Charter negotiations had gone on for some time with both Bowling and Houston.
“We are excited to have passed the charter petition this evening, and I greatly appreciate the working relationship Dr. Bowling and I had throughout the charter drafting process,” Houston said. “Months of work went into this document on both sides, and I believe it has resulted in a fair, generous contract. We look forward to the next steps and next chapter in this partnership.”
Further, Houston acknowledged in the press release that both he and Bowling produced a clear document that left as little room as possible for confusion in the future. To establish clarity of student funding and enrollment, the charter application made no distinction between the two terms, which was a catalyst for a years-long lawsuit.
The new charter agreement allows LOA to increase its enrollment up to 1,144 students, the maximum capacity of the existing facility. This also allowed for future enrollment growth, along with an offer to build a new middle school addressing that growth.
A new facility would replace the eight-year-old modular buildings that currently house LOA’s middle school program. Additionally, $2.5 million in ESPLOST funds would be paid to LOA over the next five years.
In a statement received by BOE Chairman Dr. Perry Lee, he acknowledged that a second submittal only needed a few revisions and was awaiting Tompkins’ signature. He affirmed that changes were made as they were requirements or clarifications to prevent future conflict in interpreting several ways.
“At this stage of the charter renewal, applicants will only have one opportunity to revise the application to make the substantial and material changes required,” Lee said.
Lee cited that any changes were made to avoid any ambiguity that would further delay the process of approval and avoid a repeat of earlier interpretations that appear to be ambiguous.
These were: ESPLOST funding is used only when it is needed and not allotted by the number of students; future facilities outlined in guidelines by state code demands that any future facility used by students will be subject to review and approval by the local board and the department prior to occupancy; clarification to the ambiguity in the priority admittance of only children of fulltime employees and not part-time; maximum enrollment and funding for 1,144 students in year two; and clarity of ESPLOST funding allocated to those students that are currently enrolled and not funded for the life of the charter.
“As soon as the LOA board of governors signs this charter petition document, it will move to the state Board of Education for review and approval,” Lee said. “LOA then will have a new five-year charter that starts in July of 2024.”