After the Georgia Department of Education put applications from virtual schools on hold last month, the Georgia Charter School Commission was left with 28 applications during their December 14 meeting. The interview panels which met with the applicants prior to the meeting, unanimously recommended approving five applications and denying 21 applications. The two remaining applications were presented to the Commission with a denial recommendation as a result of a split vote by the interview panels.
Commissioners followed the interview panels' unanimous recommendations and by their own unanimous vote approved five new commission schools and denied 21 applications. Although this was accomplished in two motions, some Commissioners noted their recusal for individual schools included in the motion due to a potential conflict of interest. The five initially approved schools were:
Atlanta Heights Charter School
Fulton Leadership Academy
The Museum School of Avondale Estates
Peachtree Hope Charter School
Pataula Charter Academy
Following a recess to clarify specific points with applicants, the Commission reconvened and discussed the two applications that were presented with a split vote denial recommendation.
After expanding the application's geographic area to include all of Henry and Spalding counties, the Commission unanimously approved a charter for Heron Bay Academy.
The application for Coweta Charter School, managed by Florida based Charter Schools USA, contained financial information Commissioners found unusual. After some debate, the motion to approve Coweta Charter carried with one "no" vote.
Additional state funding based on local tax revenue, currently contested in two legal actions, was approved for all seven schools. School systems not involved in the lawsuit whose state funding could be affected are Fulton, Coweta, Henry, Spalding, Calhoun, Clay, Early, Randolph and Baker counties.
The Commissioners' final financial decision was to retain three per cent of commission schools' funding
to cover expenses of the Charter School Commission.
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