GREENE COUNTY
The Lake Oconee Academy Board of Governors and Greene County Board of Education are continuing their chess match, despite the fact both parties have signed a draft agreement that would end LOA’s two-year-long lawsuit against the BOE over funding issues.
The one-page “draft agreement” was signed by both parties following a three-hour closed-door negotiating session on Oct. 17, and the Lake Oconee News has decided to publish the public document on page A2.
Lawyers for the charter school have been drawing up the detailed legal version of the draft agreement that must be executed by both parties before the deal is officially done.
However, in a closed session during its meeting Monday night, the LOA board decided to send the proposed legal agreement to the BOE without signing off on it.
Board Chairman Michael Tompkins said the board decided not to vote either way on the measure.
“We’ve sent the draft, so we’ll see what they say with our comments,” Tompkins said. “There’s been a history of us coming forward with an agreement, but there’s been a stumbling block. I don’t know who’s the stumbling block on their team, but there’s always been one.”
BOE member Perry Lee (Dist. 4), who attended the meeting, said there’s only one reason that would happen.
“We are perfectly fine with the (draft) agreement that was signed,” Lee said. “As long as they sent something that reads exactly like the agreement that was signed, we’ll have no problem. If the agreement is changed, there will be a bump.”
Lawsuit continues
Despite the draft agreement, LOA has not put the brakes on the lawsuit, and a hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday, Nov. 16, in Fulton County Superior Court.
“We don’t understand,” BOE Chairman Mike Lynch, who also attended the LOA board meeting Monday, told the Lake Oconee News. “Something’s obviously going on. We signed a letter of intent. I always thought a deal was a deal.”
Tompkins acknowledged the lawsuit is proceeding but downplayed it saying that nothing in the hearing would change the deal.
“We want to hear what the judge has to say,” Tompkins said. “We’ve spent $250,000-plus on legal fees. So, the number’s probably going up.”
Coincidentally, a judge ruled last month in a lawsuit similar but not related to LOA’s lawsuit. In that case, seven charter schools in DeKalb County complained about funding from the school board.
There are some different factors, but in both the Dekalb County and LOA lawsuits, the charter schools said that the school district was not paying them the required amount of money per student.
All schools also disputed the amount being withheld for administrative fees. They demanded their share of state money that was cut because of budget concerns caused by COVID-19 and later returned by the state.
The judge in the Dekalb case, who is not the judge hearing the LOA lawsuit, ruled in favor of the charter schools on most of their claims.
New charter is next
Also Monday night, the LOA board voted to formally apply for a five-year charter renewal after the current charter ends in 2024.
If the two sides finally reach an agreement on the issues in a signed, legal document or if the court needs to resolve them instead, the results will likely be the foundation for negotiations that will start next year on the new LOA charter.