GREENE COUNTY
Monday night was supposed to be the latest opportunity to resolve the lawsuit between Lake Oconee Academy and the Greene County Board of Education. It did not happen.
LOA filed the lawsuit in August 2020, claiming the BOE would not provide student funding at a level required by the Georgia Department of Education, as well as other funding issues. Last year, the BOE filed a complaint with the Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Board of Education alleging that LOA violated the terms of its charter by registering more students than the charter allowed.
On Oct. 17 last year, both sides signed a draft agreement that would be the foundation for a legal settlement drafted by their attorneys. In it, LOA agreed to withdraw the lawsuit, and the BOE agreed to withdraw its complaint. Other terms of the pending settlement include the BOE paying more than $1 million to LOA and LOA agreeing to enrollment limits. But arriving at a legal version of the document has proven to be difficult.
On Dec. 15, after two months of backand- forth negotiations, the BOE approved a settlement agreement that was believed to be acceptable to LOA. The BOE provided a copy of the document to the Lake Oconee News.
All that was needed was the other side’s approval, but LOA said it could not pull together a quorum of its board members over the holidays. So, its Jan. 9 meeting was expected to be the end of a battle that, according to LOA Board Chair Michael Tompkins, has run up about a half-million dollars in legal fees between the two sides. But as has happened many times in the past year, that turned out to be wishful thinking.
Monday, following a 30-minute executive session, the LOA Board of Governors voted in open session to “accept the settlement agreement that we have before us.” The board would not say if that was the same version that the BOE approved on Dec. 15.
In a statement after the vote, LOA Board Attorney Richard Schmidt said they would not provide a copy of their version to either the Lake Oconee News or BOE Chairman Mike Lynch, who attended the meeting.
“Until both sides approve it, we believe that it is not a public document,” Schmidt said. “If the school board approves it, then it will become a public document subject to everybody’s review. But at this time…we can’t disclose what is in the document.”
The BOE attorneys and Lynch were to receive the document on Tuesday, but as of press time Wednesday, Lynch said they had no comment because it is still being reviewed.
By all accounts, the Superior Court Judge handling LOA’s lawsuit had been prepared for weeks to issue a ruling in the case but agreed, at the school district’s request, to wait until after the Jan. 9 meeting, hoping LOA would approve the BOE signed settlement.
If the judge decides to rule prior to an LOA-BOE agreement, both sides have said they would keep their commitment to the terms of the Oct. 17, 2022, draft agreement.