Schools

Imagine Mableton Town Hall Meeting Gets Heated

About 250 people gathered for the town hall meeting Thursday with school board member David Morgan to learn that he does not plan to renew the school's charter.

By the time South Cobb school board member David Morgan’s town hall meeting at came to a close, the crowd of about 250 was incensed.

“It was a very emotional meeting,” Morgan told South Cobb Patch after the meeting. “I hope that people at some point and time are able to understand that it’s important to me that I talk to my constituents. I expected there to be a lot of passion and emotion. I take this very seriously.”

(and arguably, a rough five years), which has, at the school’s request, had its charter renewal vote by the Cobb Board of Education extended for almost 90 days.

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At the meeting on Thursday night, Morgan also confirmed that he would not vote to renew the school’s charter petition.

After being asked why they were there and why they should listen to him, Morgan said he came to the town hall meeting to communicate directly with his constituents and offer them his reasoning for his vote on Sept. 29.

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The attendees were parents, who are passionate about a school that many of them helped establish, students, who don’t want to leave the school where they began their educational foundation and teachers, who feel they give their all day in and day out to the 621 students of the five-year-old charter school.

The meeting began on a jovial note with students performing step dances and choreographed moves for the parents, teachers and school officials.

Questions for Morgan were written on index cards and read aloud by the school’s assistant principal James Owmby and other school administrators.

The mood in the room visibly changed and the only sounds heard were the children playing outside when Morgan was asked directly whether he would vote for the school’s charter to be renewed.

“I am not supporting the renewal,” he told the group, adding that the school had not achieved the goals laid out in its charter, “the binding agreement between the school, the board and the state.”

“I’m not the type who was looking for 100 percent adherence. Did you do every single thing?...Because this issue is of importance to all of us, I felt like what’s in my best interest that I do my part, that I know exactly what’s in the charter, that I say…’This is what it says, this is what they did over a four-year period of time. That’s the only way I can have peace of mind about whatever decision it is that I make because I don’t want to shortchange anyone.”

Morgan, a former charter school teacher and principal for Atlanta Public Schools, stressed repeatedly that the school would ultimately be judged by the contents of its charter. He said he encouraged the school to come before the school board earlier and not wait until the time of their charter renewal.

Charter Amendments May Have Been Denied

“If there are things in the charter you know you’re not going to meet, amend it,” Morgan said.

Owmby read a question asking if Morgan was aware that “to the best of anyone’s knowledge, all of the proposed amendments to the charter suggested by the school were rejected by Cobb County.”

Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, stated in an email, “When a charter schools seeks amendments to its charter, the charter school's governing board must first pass a resolution requesting the amendment(s) -- and then the amendment(s) must always be approved or denied by the County's school board. If approved, then we (GaDOE) must always review the amendment(s) and make a recommendation for approval or denial to the State Board of Education. If the State Board approves the amendment(s), then they go into to effect.”

Morgan committed to find out more on Friday about the amendments and to learn why they were denied or not presented before the board. That was the only applause he received from the passionate crowd.

Morgan Called on Lack of Exposure to IIAM
One index card question was whether Morgan had visited “to see their great school in action.” Morgan admitted he had not been to the school in a couple of years, but, he pointed out, he was the master of ceremonies for the school’s graduation a few years ago and he has visited the school multiple times.

IIAM Performs at or above Level of Other South Cobb Schools
Several parents, staff and community members have stated that they support IIAM because they feel it's a better school option than other South Cobb-area schools that often perform below district-average. IIAM did meet AYP for the 2011 school year and other South Cobb area schools, many of which are the zoned schools for IIAM students, did not.

Morgan’s response: “A very good point that you made yesterday is that the level of accountability that we have for Imagine, we don’t have for our own schools and that in itself is a travesty, but I can assure you that that is changing.”

Morgan said he found 63 opportunities for the school to meet or exceed state or district averages in reading, language arts and math.

“Of those 63 opportunities are 5 occasions where the school meets what it said they were going to do,” Morgan said.

Morgan to Reject IAS Charter

He also explained that he will not vote to renew ’s charter either. Morgan said he’s reviewed the school’s performance and “ultimately, their success rate is not at a point where I say, ‘hey, let’s move forward.’”

Morgan will hold a post-wide town hall meeting on Saturday at at 11:30 a.m.


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