State school board rescues 11 charter schools

The schools, among 16 in limbo since the Georgia Charter Schools Commission was overturned, are slated to open in August. They needed new charter contracts because the state Supreme Court’s May ruling concluded that the commission, which originally authorized them, was unconstitutional and that local school districts had sole franchise authority on establishing new charter schools.

Nine of the schools will receive state and federal funding for students, but no local funding. As state special charter schools, they will get $2,700 to $4,400 per student.

The schools are: Atlanta Heights Charter School and Heritage Preparatory, both in Atlanta; Cherokee Charter Academy; Coweta Charter Academy; Fulton Leadership Academy in south Fulton; Georgia Connections Academy and Provost Academy, both cyber campuses; Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts and Technology in Bulloch County; and Patuala Charter Academy, which serves students in Baker, Clay, Calhoun, Early and Randolph counties.

The Museum School of Avondale Estates and Ivy Preparatory Academy in Norcross are the only former commission-approved campuses that will open as fully funded local schools.

Matt Cardoza, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said Monday the approval of the schools will not impact the state’s budget because the students were already being funded at other campuses.

“We would have been giving money to the students somewhere,” he said.

Five of the schools also may be eligible to also receive up to $1 million in federal implementation grant funding as a new charter campus to offset deficits.

Charter schools are public schools which operate independently from local school board control. More than 89,000 students, slightly more than 5 percent of those in public schools, attended Georgia charter schools last school year.

A 12th school, Peachtree Hope Charter School, may be considered by the state board in July. The school split with its education management company and had to go back through the process.

Peachtree Hope filed a new application with DeKalb Schools late Monday, said Richard Andre, an attorney representing the school, which is expecting 700 students in the fall.

Walter Woods, spokesman for DeKalb Schools, said another review is needed for Peachtree Hope because dropping the management company is a “significant” change to its approved charter proposal. “It was being managed by a national company, now its not,” he said.

44% turnout for Bulloch County in midterm election

Voter turnout in Bulloch County reached 44 percent for the midterm election, a race that saw Republicans nationwide gaining gubernatorial seats as well as seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

In Georgia, Republicans easily swept all statewide seats, avoiding runoffs in three-way races with Democrats and Libertarians. With over 80 percent of precincts reporting, Nathan Deal is Georgia’s governor-elect, earning 53 percent of votes over Roy Barnes’s 43 percent of votes. Libertarian John Monds claimed four percent of the vote.

Incumbent GOP Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle will also remain in office after defeating political newcomer Carol Porter.

There are 33,244 registered voters in Bulloch County and 14,360 voters casted a ballot. That means that approximately 44% of voters cast ballots. The highest turnout came in the Blitch precinct, where nearly 62% of voters cast ballots while the lowest turnout came at the Pittman Park precinct, where only 22.5% of voters came to the polls.

Pittman Park is the precinct where all student voters who have an on-campus residence at Georgia Southern University cast their ballots. A high number of student apartment complexes are also in that district.

Multiple national media outlets are projecting that the Republicans will regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives while Democrats will keep control of the U.S. Senate.

In Georgia, Republican Johnny Isakson defeated Democratic challenger Mike Thurmond in order to return to the U.S. Senate.

Democratic candidates who did win races in Georgia are District 4’s Hank Johnson, District 5’s John Lewis, District 12’s John Barrow and District 13’s David Scott, all in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In District 12, which Georgia Southern is a part of, three-term Congressman John Barrow defeated GOP candidate Ray McKinney.

At the local level, voters also chose candidates for Bulloch County Board of Education races. One race – Board of Education District 4 – Steve Hein, Director of Georgia Southern’s Center for Wildlife Education defeated Priscilla Clifton. Hein earned 56 percent of the vote to Clifton’s 44 percent.

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