"I've been following the charter school issue since the fall of 2009 and I think it's very important to show our support," said Adrienne Slade. "We're not trying to take up (the school board members') time but we want to let them know we are committed.
Slade, whose child was selected to be in Cherokee Charter's inaugural kindergarten class in August, was one of more than 30 parents who turned out to show support for the school.
The school's future is uncertain after a 4-3 decision of the Georgia Supreme Court deemed the 2008 law that allows a state body to charter public schools unconstitutional.
The law, which created the Georgia Charter School Commission, sparked controversy after schools that were previously denied charters by local school boards could be granted charters by the state.
Cherokee Charter Academy, who's charter petition was previously denied by the county board of education, was chartered under the state law.
The Supreme Court's decision came Monday, just two days after Cherokee Charter held its lottery selecting the 995 students for its inaugural year.
With last night's meeting agenda in place, the Cherokee County Board of Education could take no official stance on the charter school, though board members discussed the issue.
Post 3 board member Michael Geist said the board had received documents from Charter School USA, Cherokee Charter Academy's management company, and would be reviewing the situation.
"Our agenda was set a week ago, but that doesn't mean we don't recognize the issue at hand," he said. "We will address this in the coming weeks."
Geist added that he supported the school and that his children were selected to attend.
A spokesperson for Charter School USA could not confirm if a new charter petition had been submitted to the Cherokee County Board of Education by deadline yesterday.
However, Heather Blevins, chair of Cherokee Charter Academy's local governing council said she hoped the school and the board of education could cooperate.
"We received over 2,400 applications to attend our school. We know there are children out there who want this service," she said. "We hope we can come to an some agreement with the board."
2. CCSD asked for revisions to the charter last year and the charter decided to go to the state charter that they knew could be declared unconstitutional. They effectively said no to working together with CCSD.
3. Geist ran on a platform about his kids being in CCSD schools and now they want to leave...what does that say???
4. The proposed charter would not let my kids in because we both have to work and thus we could not meet the requirements to volunteer during the school day. This is the reason for my elitist statement. Unless you own a business or have a stay at home mom/dad or other work arrangement then these students are left out. YES...effectively the poor and struggling families are left out - of course many of these folks in this socio economic class are also minorities...hmmm...
5. Yes Charters run things cheaper because they pay teachers very little regardless of experience, effectiveness etc..and stats show in less than 5 years most of these teachers leave. The freedom for paperwork and the abibity to "teach" is discovered to be a farce.
6. BUT... alas I hope it gets done as long as tax papyers own the property that all of our tax dollars would be paying for and not some company who could choose to leave and sell for a profit when the economy turns around and thus make a mint off our property tax.
7. FINALLY if the state fully funded the local CCSD school disticts including things like transportation, security, etc...then funding charters would not be debated. Alas I am proud of school districts including the one I now reside in who fight for all the kids. CHARTER FOLKS...FIGHT as hard with the state as you can to FULLY FUND EDUCATION acsoss the board and charters will not be an issue.
The hatred of parents who want a better choice for their children than what is currently being offered by the nation's 50th-ranked school system must stop.
Furthermore, if Mr. Geist must remove himself because he wants a better education for his children, then everyone on the school board should never vote on anything. We are all taxpayers in this county and we are all entitled to send our children to the best school available. The last time I checked my economics, competition was a good thing and creating a monopoly pushed prices up and lowered quality.
By that logic, the three sumpreme court justices that voted in favor of a state organization to handle charter schools should also resign. That attempt at "logic" makes no sense whatsoever.
You may not like Mr. Geist's position, but don't be ridiculous. The fact that Mr. Geist's children were chosen to go to the new charter school has no bearing on his ability to weigh the options and decide for or against a charter school.
Mr. Geist should immediately recuse himself from any and all discussions and votes on this issue.
I hope our board will stay strong for the vast majority of kids and keep local $$$ under local accountability.
Finally if Cherokee Charter wants to start go to the State BOE get state funding and make it work. Keep my tax money away from your elitist attempt at a private school with local PUBLIC money.