Oakland Charter Presents Application to Public, Seeks Input

On November 29th, the Oakland Academy Charter School (OACS) presented its charter application to the public. The purpose of the presentation was to share its progress with the community and hear input. But, the presentation, held at the Coosawatee Shriners Club, received a low turn-out, perhaps a result of wintry weather.

Founding OACS Board Member Raiford Cantrell delivered a power-point, pausing periodically to take questions from the few in attendance.

Cantrell began by explaining charter schools are tuition free public schools, yet are held to a higher standard than other public schools. The former Oakland Principal and Superintendent explained the different types of charters. Some charters are affiliated with charter associations, like Charter Schools USA, he said, while others are associated with local school boards. OACS is applying for a start-up charter, which if approved will be affiliated with the Gilmer County Board of Education. Although OACS will be affiliated with Gilmer’s BOE, it will be governed by a board of trustees in accordance with parental and community input. According to the presentation, charter schools are also eligible for State and Federal grants, which Cantrell said OACS plans to apply for. Cantrell also said that a common misconception about charter school is that they direct funds away from public schools. He argued against this, saying that, regarding resources and funding, charter schools are part of the same system.

The presentation also brought to light some particulars regarding curriculum. Cantrell explained that, when approved, OACS’s curriculum will involve highly interactive classrooms, use of technology, and project-based instruction. The idea behind this type of curriculum, rooted in a philosophy called Constructivism, is to prepare students for a global society, he said. During this part of the presentation, Citizen Larry Lykins questioned the modes of assessment of OACS’s proposed curriculum, specifically the “performance-based report cards.” This mode of assessment deviates from the traditional letter system of grading. Rather, it assesses students on skill-set. For example, with this system, a student may receive a score of one or two, where one represents the mastery of reading fluency and two, comprehension. Although this assessment is based on Georgia Performance Standards, the teacher creates or devises his or her own scale. Lykins was concerned that performance-based report cards would be too subjective, meaning that the teacher would essentially have the authority to create the standards on which to base their assessments. According to the presentation, the reason for this method of assessment is to ensure that students master the skills for each grade level, rather than receiving an A in a class without true mastery of the material. After the presentation, Lykins noted that he had other concerns about the operation of OACS, including governance, although he did not expound on this concern.

Also, Cherry Log Resident Noreen Thomas was concerned about the Primary Attendance Zone. Students in this zone, which runs from the area around the Old Oakland School to Yukon Road, would have priority over students in other parts of the County. As a Cherry Log resident, Thomas would have secondary consideration for her child’s enrollment.

At the end of the meeting, Cantrell said that the Board plans to use the input from the meeting, emails, and other interactions with the community to revise the application and then present it to the Gilmer County Board of Education (BOE) at its December meeting. After the application is presented, the BOE has 60 days to decide whether to accept the application, meaning to allow OACS to open, or to reject it. If the BOE rejects the application, it has an additional 60 days to give reasons why the application was rejected. Once it receives the reasons for its rejections from the BOE, OACS can correct these items and resubmit its application. In May, OACS requested a waiver for the charter school application deadline. The BOE denied the request, stone-walling OACS’ progress and creating tension between the BOE and OACS. As such, tough negotiations seem to be in the future for the charter school.

In an interview with FYN following the presentation, Cantrell explained that after the Gilmer BOE approves the petition, a charter agreement must still be worked out between the Gilmer BOE and OACS. Despite the seemingly arduous process ahead of Oakland Charter, though, Cantrell seemed optimistic.

“I think it is an on-going process,” he said, “and at some point we would anticipate that we would meet all of the requirements that the local board has and that the application will be approved.”