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Schools

IAS in line for charter renewal

Superintendent Hinojosa recommends approval of Smyrna charter school's renewal petition on Wednesday; school board will formally vote on the matter in two weeks.

During Wednesday’s school board work session, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa recommended the renewal of the charter of the (IAS).

He did not recommend the renewal of the charter for , and opposed two proposed charter schools, STEAM Academy of Cobb and Turning Point Charter Leadership Academy School of Excellence.

The school board will vote on all four petitions Sept. 29. The board’s decision applies to the 2012-13 school year.

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IAS did not make AYP in 2011 for the first time in the school’s four years, and Hinojosa said he is concerned about a potential five-year operating loss of $2,566,326. But he recommended approving the school’s renewal petition.

The charter school severed its relationship with Imagine Schools after the 2010-11 school year and became self-managed.

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That move is saving the school about $700,000 this year, IAS Treasurer Terald Melton said, and the school renegotiated its lease by $500,000.

The school district’s review raised concerns about the school’s ability to generate revenue through grants and donations, but Melton said the school could easily raise $350,000 during the first year of fundraising.

The school, offering kindergarten through eighth grade, has averaged 575 students during its history.

“I thought it went very well, and we'd like to make sure the financial piece is clearer on both sides with CCSD and our school,” Melton said of the meeting.

There were plenty of smiles about the news around IAS on Thursday.

“When I first found out that we had our charter renewed, I was really excited that our school was actually doing something correct,” said Tanisha Taylor, IAS school liaison. “Just with all the other things that are happening to all the other charter schools it was just refreshing and exciting to know that we still had another chance to really make a difference in the lives of the kids that we’re working with.”

Sandra Alexander, IAS interim principal for grades six through eight, attributed the board’s approval to the work of the school’s governing board under the leadership of board chair and school founder Cheryl Wilson.

“We’ve been extremely diligent once we had our break from Imagine to make sure we had everything in place,” Alexander said. “Yesterday was a great day for us…We felt that we had done the best that we could to prepare the charter and to answer any questions that the Cobb county board had posed. We felt we had done our homework, but I think that I can attribute it to our dedication to making sure that our charter was renewed. We tried to pull on board some key staff members that formerly under Imagine were not there.”

Alexander added that now that the school’s charter has been renewed, it will focus on advancing its International Baccalaureate status to that of an IB World School.

- Sydney Busby contributed to this story

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