At issue for Gwinnett is the amount the Georgia Charter Schools Commission will deduct from state funding for GCPS and give to Ivy Prep.
As 160,000 Gwinnett kids start their next school year, school administrators' plans become reality except for one glitch - they don't know how much state funding they will lose.
At issue for Gwinnett is the amount the Georgia Charter Schools Commission will deduct from state funding for GCPS and give to Ivy Prep.
Last year, this deduction was $850,000 which GCPS asserts is $300,000 more than other charter schools would have received in local funding. According to court documents, this difference was caused by the Commission using its own "average" funding formula instead of the existing formula for charter schools. Although the decision is being appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, Judge Shoob ruled the Commission's funding method is legal, so it will likely be used again for this coming year.
Even though last minute construction delays forced Ivy Prep to move the start of their school year to August 16, the Georgia Department of Education will wait until both GCPS and Ivy Prep open to ensure an accurate student enrollment count.
According to Louis Erste, Charter Schools Division Director, "This is to assure that the students are in fact enrolled at the Commission schools before host district revenues are further reduced."
While this may cause some adjusting on the part of school officials, there are 160,000 kids who won't notice; they will be busy with their own adjustments for their new school year.
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