At a special called meeting on Tuesday night, the Lake Oconee Academy Board of Governors voted to approve a settlement offer to be sent to the Greene County Board of Education. Upon approval by both boards, LOA would end its two yearlong lawsuit over funding against the BOE.
The vote came after a 30-minute closed executive session. Details of the of the proposal were not announced.
However, in making the motion to approve, LOA Board Member Sarah Peacock said it was based on conversations in recent weeks between LOA CEO Otho Tucker and Greene County School Superintendent Chris Houston.
“Dr. Tucker and Dr. Houston have come up with a proposed settlement framework,” Peacock said. “We’ve considered that and are in a position to accept that. I make a motion that we direct our attorneys to present that offer to the school board.” Sitting in the audience Tuesday night were BOE Chairman Mike Lynch and Vice Chairman Steve Kilgore, who should have known about any agreement. After the vote, when asked by a reporter if he was surprised, Lynch said yes.
Lynch left the room and called Houston, who is on vacation, and later told the Lake Oconee News that Houston did not think that he and Tucker had a final agreement.
In April, the BOE sent a proposed offer to LOA but had not received a response before Tucker and Houston started their recent talks.
In a text message exchange with the Lake Oconee News late Tuesday, Houston clarified his view.
“We had a promising conversation,” Houston wrote, “where we clarified points of concern and I recommended that Dr. Tucker respond to our offer or counter through his attorney. We are not far apart in my estimation.”
The Board of Education must accept the LOA proposal before the deal is done. Lynch says that despite the confusion, the LOA Board’s action is a positive sign.
“The good news is they reacted to our offer,” Lynch said. “It’s a little misleading to say that we had an agreement.”
Lynch said Tuesday that it’s possible that when they see the offer, the BOE might find it acceptable. He expected it to be discussed in closed session at the BOE’s monthly meeting Thursday, June 16.