GREENE COUNTY
The Greene County Board of Education unanimously voted in an open session on Dec. 15 to approve a new settlement offer, hoping to end a legal dispute with Lake Oconee Academy.
“I feel ecstatic,” BOE Chairman Mike Lynch told the Lake Oconee News.
The next day, LOA Board of Governors Chairman Michael Tompkins said he had not yet seen what was passed.
“But Mike had called and told me they passed it,” he said, “and if it’s what he told me…I said we will pass it, also.”
If LOA’s board approves the offer, according to Tompkins, they will withdraw their lawsuit that was filed in September 2020. Lynch says approval would mean the School District would withdraw its complaint to the state that LOA is violating the terms of its charter.
Tompkins said Wednesday morning that he has not yet seen a copy of what was approved by the BOE. He said their attorneys are reviewing it. Lynch told the Lake Oconee News that the document was sent by registered mail, and because of the holidays, has probably not been seen by anyone at LOA, but he was working to get a copy e-mailed to Tompkins Wednesday.
Still, last Friday, Tompkins said that he was the most optimistic he has ever been about ending the dispute. But by Wednesday, he had lost some of his optimism, saying he felt the odds of an agreement are now 50/50.
Tompkins is upset that the BOE asked for and was granted a delay in a judgment on the lawsuit by the Fulton County Superior Court judge until after Jan. 9. He says that is the first time the LOA board could be scheduled to vote on the BOE-approved settlement.
Judge Emily Richardson had been expected, for weeks, to rule on whether the lawsuit should be dismissed following a hearing on Nov. 22.
Tomkins said he told Lynch that he did not want a delay in the judge’s ruling.
“I said to Mike, between us we spent a half million dollars,” Lynch said. “Don’t you want to know one way or the other? He said no. That’s just strange. If I paid for something, I want to get what I paid for.”
“We asked the judge to delay the verdict,” Lynch told the Lake Oconee News, “because if we have an agreed settlement that goes out of its way not to assign who was right or wrong, it doesn’t make any sense for a verdict to subsequently assign who was wrong. We are confident we both will agree to this settlement and this all will be behind us and we can get on with educating kids.”
Assuming the LOA board approves the settlement, both Tompkins and Lynch have told the Lake Oconee News that no matter what the court ruling is, it will not change their agreement.
The lawsuit
The charter school filed suit against the BOE claiming, among other things, that it is violating the charter by not fully funding LOA. The main issue is a disagreement on how many students LOA’s charter allows and how many should be funded by the BOE.
LOA also alleges that BOE is charging too much for administrative fees.
Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state cut education funding but later reinstated some of the cuts. LOA says its share of the returned money is being withheld by the BOE.
There have been only a few moments of optimism during the 27-month-long lawsuit.
In October, the two boards met one night for a three-hour negotiation during which Houston shuttled back and forth between the two groups who were in separate rooms. The result was a signing ceremony where both sides inked a “Draft Agreement.”
The Lake Oconee News subsequently published the one-page document which included, among other things, a $1,093,303 payment by the BOE to LOA and limits on the number of students LOA can enroll between now and when the current charter ends in 2024.
But for the past two months, lawyers and educators on both sides have been picking at words and disagreeing on the intent of the framework of the “Draft Agreement.” They have not been able to come up with a legally binding document that both sides felt represented the Preliminary Agreement.
Until now.
Maybe.
It’s unclear if it is the spirit of the holiday season or the sheer level of frustration in everyone involved, including parents, business leaders, and local public interest groups, that has led to the possible final deal. It’s also unclear if the delayed court ruling or LOA’s pending review of the BOE-approved settlement will, again, derail the process.
If the LOA board fails to sign off on the settlement on Jan. 9, the judge is expected to make a ruling, and the losing party will likely appeal, allowing the whole thing to drag on longer.
Lynch said he’s still optimistic.
“As Yogi Berra said, ‘it’s not over ‘til it’s over,'” the chairman said. “So, I’m holding my breath.”