August 31, 2010

CHARTER UPDATE

Dear Imagine Port Wentworth Community Members,

As many of you know, our charter application was denied on July 7 by the Savannah Chatham County School board. The  vote 7 against, 0 for and 2 abstentions, with abstentions by Julie Gerbsch and Irene Hines. We strongly disagree with the basis for the denial. At the botom of this update is a link to a document includingthe school district's rationale for recomending denial and our point by point response to that denial recommendation.

We were not surprised that we were denied.  Fortunately, the State of Georgia now has in place a State Charter Commission that considers charter applications following denial by local school districts. If our charter is approved by the Commission in December, we will be approved in spite of the SCCSB denial and will be able to proceed with opening our school.

The IPWCA board is now in the process of preparing for the review process to be conducted by the State Commission. We may be calling on some of you to assist us in the Commission approval process.

In the meantime, you are encoraged to review our denial response to geta sense of the kind of issues of concern the district raised and the our response to them. We have a strong charter application.  In addition, take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions prepared by Imagine Schools, to learn more about their philosophy and commitment to education.   You might find these helpful in getting to know Imagine better and in seeing why we have chosen to partner with them.

As I've said many times, a new charter school is the only chance we have to bring a new tuition free public school option to Port Wentworth in the next several years. Help us make it a reality.

Sincerely,

Robert Henderson

Board Chair - IPWCA

 

IPWCA Response to Denial 

Imagine Schools - Frequently Asked Questions 

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these documents.