GREENE COUNTY
The charter negotiations to complete a petition that ultimately goes to the Georgia Department of Education for Lake Oconee Academy (LOA) appear to be nearing completion with the Greene County Board of Education (BOE).
However, a sticking point continues to be of the word “or” in an existing law on the books – a definition so important that the BOE sought both legal advice and that of a professional grammarian to clarify.
It has prompted several conversations among LOA and the BOE to define whether or not both full-time and part-time employees’ children can fast-track their attendance at the school. The BOE believes the law only applies to full-time employees and not part-time.
According to LOA, there are 30 part-time personnel and 44 children who attend the school due to their parent’s employment, accounting for 4 percent of the student population.
Due to the increasing shortage of qualified teachers, LOA asserts that they need the flexibility of hiring good part-time employees, and it serves as a recruitment tool.
“Charter schools need to be innovative, creative, and flexible to meet challenging needs,” said Richard Schmidt, secretary of the LOA Board of Governors. “Many good teachers only want to work part-time, and they serve an important role here. Every school, not just a charter school, needs flexibility to bring in the best teachers. There is an incredible brain trust here, and we need to be able to tap that.”
Michael Kilgore, BOE board member, commented that the two legal teams involved cite differing opinions to the law. He also commented that the BOE may not change their position on this.
Other charter points to be negotiated this Friday include important caps and funding per student enrolled. LOA asserts the funding cap should increase due to the admittance of priority students, which currently stands at 30 students. Currently, there are 1,092 enrolled students, and projections for fiscal year 2025 would be 1,102 total students. Fiscal year 2026 is projected to be 1,144 students.
LOA is agreeing to make the BOE aware of pending facilities needs but making LOA ultimately responsible for location designation and design elements. They state that, during the development phase, the BOE may purchase and own the facility and will have six months to make that decision. If the BOE does not purchase, LOA will then have the right to seek financing methods using other resources that could include county land and supporting ESPLOST funding to the equation.
The BOE broke ground last spring on a new elementary and middle school, which is capable of supporting 900 students. Two wings could be added to the facility to meet an ever-growing population in Greene County that could demonstrate no need for LOA expansion and cost. Most of the priority students are in elementary and middle school.
LOA board members cited the ongoing negotiations as being good and supportive of both parties. While a parent addressed the board with concerns about a pending closure if the charter is not finalized, Dr. Otho Tucker, former CEO and now a consultant to the board, commented that potentially it could happen if not in place.
“I am an eternal optimist,” he said. “When it comes down to it, I believe cooler heads will prevail as this moves forward. I called the Department of Education on this, and they believe if the charter petition is received by December, then there is a good chance all the reviews and approvals will be completed by March of next year.”
Board Chairman Michael Tompkins made a motion to approve the nomination of a new board member, resident Kelly Brolly. Brolly is an attorney and author. Her nomination was approved. Brolly is expected to be at the December meeting.