School grants 30-day extension
At a special public meeting with parents Tuesday night, the Lake Oconee Academy Board of Governors gave the Greene County Board of Education an extension on the deadline for the BOE to decide if LOA should be granted a charter renewal.
LOA’s current charter expires in June 2024, and both bodies must approve the wording of a new charter and get it to the state by December for final approval.
In April, LOA submitted a 42-page renewal application with 428 pages of support material to the BOE. Under state law, the BOE had 90 days, until July 15, to respond with an approval or denial of the charter extension.
Following a special public meeting on July 12 where LOA’s application was discussed, the BOE responded with a list of at least 66 “clarification” questions, including nine “non-negotiables” and a request to extend the deadline for a decision past the 90 days.
Tuesday night, in front of a group of 40 parents and interested parties, the LOA board discussed some of the questions, focusing on the non-negotiables, and vented frustration with the BOE and the renewal process.
“I am going with a spirit of collaboration in mind,” said LOA Executive Director Brad Bowling. “I’m really optimistic about an opportunity to work together with the Greene County school system. I have to share that I was a bit discouraged after attending the meeting last week.”
Bowling was hired to replace CEO Otho Tucker, who retired but remains an advisor to the board.
“I think a lot of these are characterized by more of an attempt to control, to oversee, to monitor our organization and instructional models rather than to give us the autonomy that charter schools are characterized by,” Bowling said.
Clarifications needed
One of the issues discussed was the enrollment cap for LOA. This coming year, about 1,080 students will attend LOA. The application indicated the school planned to have an enrollment of 1,144 students in each year of the five-year agreement, starting August 2024. That’s 88 students in each of the school’s Kindergarten through 12th grades.
The BOE responded that only 1,072 students would be approved and paid for with a 2% increase allowed each year. The reason given is that increasing LOA enrollment has resulted in top students leaving the other county schools, which has had a negative impact on students in those schools.
At one point, LOA Chairman Michael Tompkins said that he and former BOE Chairman Mike Lynch had agreed that the enrollment cap in the new charter would be 1,144.
“It’s those kinds of things since I’ve known them for seven years that’s just so unnecessary,” he said. “If you want people to trust you and to do your best for our kids, which we are trying to do, you don’t do things like that.”
Another “non-negotiable” stated by the BOE was that only children of full-time teachers and administrators should be given priority in LOA’s annual enrollment lottery.
Currently, LOA grants priority to children of all employees of the school, as mentioned in the current charter. Presumably, siblings of students already enrolled at LOA and children graduating from the school’s Pre-K program will continue to also be given priority for enrollment.
Also, attempts to allow LOA students and Greene County High School students to take AP and College and Career Academy classes at each other’s campus have failed in the past over the question of whether schools would be compensated for teaching the additional students.
The BOE's response to LOA’s application makes its position clear that “since both schools are fully funded, there will be no transfer of money for this service.” LOA believes it should be paid because more students will go from GCHS to LOA than from LOA to GCHS.
Other clarifications requested by the BOE include how LOA compares its success to schools in Greene and other counties, more details on how LOA Board of Governors members are selected and whether the BOE, not the school, should own LOA’s buildings in the future.
In the end, the LOA board voted to give the BOE a 30-day extension for a decision after they send their response to the BOE, which LOA Board Chairman Michael Tompkins estimated would take three weeks to complete.
Strained relationship
In the past, LOA’s charter renewals involved both boards getting together to hash out details with a low-key approval.
But the 2016 charter became controversial four years ago over the interpretation of maximum enrollment and per-pupil compensation at LOA. It resulted in a 29-month-long lawsuit by LOA against the BOE, which was resolved in January but left much distrust, cynicism and in some cases, personal animosity between them.
Since then, BOE Board Chairman Mike Lynch resigned for medical reasons, and Bowling replaced the retiring Tucker. With those and other changes, some involved hope the tension has softened somewhat. Both sides say they hope a spirit of cooperation can result in a charter extension.
LOA has posted its application and the BOE’s list of requested clarifications on its website – www.lakeoconeeacademy.org – which can also be reached through the Greene County School System website - www.greene.k12.ga.us.