DOUGHERY COUNTY SCHOOLS SYSTEM OFFICIALS SEEK TO LIMIT EDUCATIONAL CHOICES FOR LOCAL PARENTS AND CHILDREN: BOARD VOTES “NO” TO ALBANY-DOUGHERTY’S FIRST PUBLIC GRASSROOTS CHARTER SCHOOL ALBANY, GA – Longtime Dougherty County School System (DCSS) Board Attorney Tommy Coleman with Board Chairperson, Carol Tharin and Interim Superintendent Dr. David “Butch” Mosely have launched a personal and highly troubling campaign towards eliminating new, innovative, and desperately needed educational opportunities for Dougherty County’s parents and students. At its regularly scheduled August 21, 2013 Board meeting, and at the recommendation and direction of Coleman, the DCSS Board failed to approve The River School for Children STEM Academy as a local grassroots affiliated public charter school in a 3-3 deadlocked vote; one Board member was absent. Despite the public overture of one Board member for additional time for information gathering and discussion, Coleman erroneously advised the Board that, “You must vote on this today!” The planned school, River School for Children STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Academy, is scheduled to open in the Fall 2014 to all Dougherty County children. This public charter school is a welcomed educational option for many parents and children in the Albany-Dougherty community as it would provide families with FREE educational CHOICE over their locally zoned public school, home school, or the costly tuition of a private school. Public charter schools are tuition-free schools governed collaboratively by innovative boards, visionary leaders, committed educators and parents. The school’s CEO Dr. Jewel J. Faison, a former Southwest Georgia School Superintendent, Johnny H. Moton, Chairman of River Rd., Inc., a retired SW-GA educator/administrator, with a group of current and former Southwest Georgia school P-16 educators, administrators, parents, and area church leaders made an impassioned plea to the DCSS Board seeking collaboration and approval towards becoming DCSS’s first grassroots affiliated public charter school. Dr. Faison and the group sought the cooperation of the DCSS Board in an effort to proactively diffuse any potential hostility between the school and the local system as is often the case when public charter schools arrive in local school districts. Despite Coleman’s and some members of the DCSS Board’s short sighted and nefarious failure to provide its local approval for the River School for Children STEM Academy, Dr. Faison and members of the River School for Children STEM Academy’s Board of Directors quite smartly also completed an application to the Georgia State Charter Schools Commission (GSCSC). Relatedly, after hearing Tharin’s misguided explicative on the local news on June 4, 2013, concerning an earlier charter application by another Dougherty County grassroots group, the River School group quickly sought to meet the GSCSC’s June 14, 2013 application deadline. The Georgia State Charter School Commission, who has within their sole authority the approval power for granting state public school charters, successfully received a formal application from The River School for Children STEM Academy. Subsequently, the State Commission commended the River School group for its persistence and perseverance and has slated to meet and interview with Mr. Moton, Dr. Faison, members of the River Academy Board of Directors and Advisors on September 9, 2013 much to the vehement chagrin of Coleman and Tharin who appear more concerned with maintaining misguided power and keeping taxpayer monies flowing through the traditional system rather than doing what’s best for Dougherty County’s children. According to the DCSS website, Coleman, Mosley, Tharin and a sect of Board Members are so upset and incensed at the seeming audacity and keen adeptness of this local group of professional educators and concerned citizens, that without any kind of public vote they have cancelled the regularly scheduled September 9th school Board meeting so that Coleman, Tharin and Mosely can travel (at county taxpayer’s expense) to make a feeble and desperate attempt to “CRASH” the River School for Children STEM Academy’s interview with the Charter Commission. Such an act by Coleman, Mosely and Tharin is tantamount to utter ridiculousness. Even more, the act is dripping with bully overtones not to mention potentially costly illegalities at the expense of taxpayers. Further, neither Coleman nor any member of the DCSS School Board or administration has been invited by the GSCSC or by any member of the River School for Children STEM Academy Board to the September 9th interview. The fine citizens and caring educational professionals in SW-GA are again being made to look out-of-touch and backwards to the State Department of Education with such unprofessional actions by local education leaders. State officials were only a few months ago describing the ineffectiveness of the Board in its governance, county-wide test security and rendering high school instruction grossly inadequate in Dougherty County. One can only imagine what baseless motivations lie at the heart of this shameful attempt to discourage and disallow this viable and clearly needed FREE-CHOICE educational innovation in our community. The DCSS Board voted “NO” on August 21st. However, the citizens of the state of Georgia sent a clear message that they were done with these kinds of strong-armed shenanigans of local school boards when they voted “YES” in November 2012 to reinstate a State Charter School Commission Board to evaluate the viability of charter applications. When local Boards say “NO,” the State Charter Commission can scrutinize the applicant further and grant or disapprove the charter based on its’ independent merits. In our region both Baconton and Petaula Charters experienced similar local stalemates. The DCSS should let the State Department’s process run its’ course without attempted interference. Further, leaders in our community should take a vocal stance against Coleman, Tharin and the members of the DCSS Board on this issue. We must not continue to allow our community to fall victim to personal agendas, fear, classism, cronyism, and greed while OUR CHILDREN suffer! Call your local DCSS School Board Member, the DCSS Superintendent’s Office at (229) 431-1285, and the State Charter Commission at (404) 656-2837 to voice your disapproval for ANY attempts by ANY DCSS school officials to use our tax dollars to interfere with the State’s process of the application of this innovative school that will be open to ALL CHILDREN at NO COST to parents! Tell Mr. Coleman to obey the LAW and stop the costly bully maneuvers! Also, voice your support for the River School for Children STEM Academy as a grassroots PUBLIC charter school. OUR CHILDREN - RED, YELLOW, BLACK, OR WHITE – DESERVE AN OPPORTUNITY! LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN IN DOUGHERTY COUNTY!! # # #
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 13:03:17 +0000
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