The Lake Oconee Academy Board of Governors Wednesday responded to a Sept. 9 letter from Greene County School Superintendent Dr. Chris Houston that accused the district’s charter school of violating the terms of their charter agreement.
The Houston letter is copied to members of the boards of both parties as well as state education leaders, including Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods. Lake Oconee News received a copy of the Houston letter as an attachment to LOA’s response to parents, staff and others.
The allegation involves an issue at the heart of LOA’s two-year-old lawsuit against the Greene County Board of Education. In the suit, LOA charges the BOE of underfunding students in violation of
Houston’s letter alleges that LOA
“…flagrantly, knowingly and deliberately violated the terms of its existing charter by enrolling more than 1,051 students…” and demands “…that LOA come into immediate compliance with the charter terms.” the charter. The charter says LOA’s maximum enrollment is 1,051. The two sides disagree on if the charter application, which includes a list of the projected annual enrollment limits stepping up to the 1,051, is actually part of the charter. The BOE currently pays LOA for 1,032 students.
The LOA board, in a called meeting on Aug. 26, voted to seek approval from the state to expand its enrollment to 1,081. At that meeting, LOA CEO Otho Tucker said that LOA’s current enrollment is already at 1,081.
In his response letter to Houston, LOA Board Chairman Michael Tompkins said the BOE’s refusal in 2020 to start funding only the number of students listed in the application forced LOA to absorb the costs for a gradually increasing number of students matriculating to the next grade.
“LOA has been transparent about the fact that its enrollment continues to grow based on natural advancement of its current student body,” Tompkins wrote. “The real victims are the children who the District is seeking to eject from the school they now call home. This is little more than a political stunt intended to intimidate and harass us in order to increase the District’s leverage in the ongoing litigation."
LOA’s lawsuit has been sitting on the Fulton County Superior Court docket for 25 months. Occasional negotiations between the two sides to resolve the dispute have, so far, been unsuccessful.
LOA has asked the court for a Writ of Mandamus which would compel the county to pay what LOA says it is owed. Both sides have held depositions and filed arguments in the case. There has been no ruling yet.