Opinion ID: 2509859
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Three Commission Charter School Appellees

Text: The three appellee schools in this case are Ivy Preparatory Academy, Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts and Technology (CCAT), and Heron Bay Academythe first three commission charter schools approved in Georgia. Each of the schools first petitioned its local district to operate as a local charter school under the 1998 Act, but their petitions were all denied. Before 2008, Ivy Prep and CCAT each obtained approval to operate as a state charter school. After the 2008 Act took effect, Ivy Prep, CCAT, and Heron Bay each obtained approval from the Commission to operate as a commission charter school. Ivy Prep is located in Gwinnett County, and its charter permits it to enroll students from Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties and to continue to enroll the students from outside those two counties who were enrolled when it became a commission charter school. The record indicates that Ivy Prep has a total of about 300 students from ten school districts, including Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Atlanta. Ivy Prep is a single-gender school that provides a rigorous, college preparatory program for young women, ultimately in grades 6 to 12, including an extended day, week, and year educational program and . . . two hours of English/language arts and mathematics instruction on a daily basis. Ivy Prep's charter requires its students to perform at a higher level than their peers in the Gwinnett County Public Schools System in reading, math, social studies, and science. Ivy Prep's student population is about 68% African-American, 11% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 6% Caucasian, and 5% multiracial. Nearly 40% of the students come from low income families. Ivy Prep's students have outscored their peers in surrounding school systems on standardized testing, sometimes significantly, and have surpassed adequate yearly progress standards, enabling the school to obtain federal Title I funds. CCAT is located in Bulloch County, and its charter permits it to enroll students from Bulloch County and to continue to enroll the students from other districts who were enrolled when it became a commission charter school. CCAT has about 1,100 students from six school districts, including Bulloch and Candler. Also serving students in grades 6 to 12, CCAT offers a year round program with multi-age, student-centered classrooms featuring pedagogy that is based on constructivist and multiple intelligence learning. To meet the performance objectives in its charter, CCAT's middle school students must meet or exceed the mean and median scores of their peers statewide on the CRCT exam in each content area; its high school students must perform similarly well on statewide high school graduation, writing, and end-of-course tests. About 41% of CCAT's students come from low income families, and special education students constitute 14% of the school. CCAT has an average graduation rate of 92%, placing it in the top three schools in Georgia over the last seven years. The school has also been honored by the Georgia Department of Education multiple times for having one of the highest graduation rates for students with disabilities, and it has been a Title I Distinguished School for the last seven years. Heron Bay is located in Spalding County and was scheduled to begin operating during the 2011-2012 academic year with students from the Griffin-Spalding and Henry County School Districts. It was to open as a K-6 grade school offering an extended day and extended school that will incorporate foreign language instruction for all students in all grade levels beginning in Kindergarten. Its charter required its students to perform above their peers in the Henry and Spalding County school systems' non-charter schools on standardized tests and to substantially increase test scores each year. Like all of the state charter and commission charter schools, any student who resides in its area may apply to enroll in Heron Bay, with a random selection process ensuring an equal chance of admittance, without discrimination on any basis that would be illegal if used by a local school system, and in full compliance with state and federal laws regarding education of students with disabilities and other special education needs and English language learners. See OCGA § 20-2-2066(b)-(c); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 160-4-9-.04(5)(a)(5)(v), (vi), (x) and (5)(a)(7)(iii).