Smyrna Academy of Excellence Presents to State Charter School Board Monday

Monday Smyrna Academy of Excellence board members will attempt once more to secure a charter for their south Cobb school .

“The presenting team has spent a lot of time on the presentation and they’re really excited,” said LeAnn Boucher, a Smyrna Academy of Excellence volunteer. “They’ve got a lot of great information and spent a lot of time and due diligence putting it all together.”

SAE officials will present to the state’s Charter School Committee. Boucher said the committee will deliberate and make a recommendation to the State Board of Education in two or three weeks.

“At that point then they have to get it on the calendar for the State Board of Education,” she said. “We suspect it would be November when they have it on their calendar.”

The Cobb County School Board denied SAE a charter in June citing concerns that there wasn’t enough money to get the school off the ground. At that time, board members announced that they planned to open SAE as a private school.

Shortly after the denial, Georgia’s Charter Schools Director Louis Erste told SAE board members that there was a way they might still be able to open as a public school.

“Up until July 1, funding for (state chartered special) schools was limited to QBE only—basic state funding that all schools get around the country and the state,” he said. “Starting July 1 House Bill 797 included a clause over and above the charter schools connection, which was the main thrust of HB 797. It included a clause that provided for the funding of state chartered schools.”

If SAE is approved as a special state charter school, Boucher said their next steps will be to register students and secure a facility. 

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