The Main Street Academy - A Charter School

Welcome to the Imagine Main Street Academy Website. It is our hope to have a new public Kindergarten-5th grade (possibly K-8th) charter school for the Tri-Cities area of East Point, College Park and Hapeville for the 2009 school year. The intention of this site is to help inform you of our progress as well as educate.

THE LATEST INFORMATION:

CALL TO ACTION - By Wayne Whitesides
BELOW I AM ATTACHING THE THE LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION FROM THE DEPUTY SUPER TO DENY OUR CHARTER ON THURSDAY. IT IS UP TO YOU, TO FIGHT AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF YOU WANT A BETTER SCHOOL, THEN YOU HAVE TO HELP AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. DO IT NOW, CALL WHOMEVER, SPREAD TO WORD TO WHOEVER, JUST DO IT!

Agenda Item Content

Executive Summary:
Imagine Main Street Academy Charter School proposes a K – 8 elementary and middle school with a term of five years in College Park, East Point or Hapeville. It expects to open with 216 K – 5 grade pupils and grow to 432 K – 8th grade students by the fifth year. It plans to offer international education using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme and Middle Years Programme.

This petition was presented to the Board in June for approval. At that time, the Board agreed to provide an extension to the petitioners to address concerns regarding the proposed start-up charter. The revisions were submitted on June 24 and have been reviewed by staff.

In reviewing the revisions, the administration still has concerns, as outlined in the attached rationale for denial. As a result of these concerns, the administration believes it would not be in the best interest of the district to approve this start-up charter request.

However, the administration believes the emphasis on the primary and middle grades International Baccalaureate Program have merit and should be further explored. Should the Board approve the recommendation for denial, it would be the desire of the Superintendent to immediately investigate options for implementing a similar program within the school system, possibly through a conversion charter and open enrollment.

ACTION REQUESTED:
This item is presented for action.

MOTION STATEMENT:
I move that the Fulton County Board of Education deny the Imagine Main Street Academy startup charter petition.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY:
Linda Anderson
Deputy Superintendent
of Instruction
404-763-4578
AndersonLD@fultonschools.org

Laura Stowell
FCSS Charter Consultant
770-551-2490 x229
stowelll@fultonschools.org

RATIONALE FOR DENIAL

DATE: July 7, 2008
TO: Dr. Cindy Loe, Superintendent
FROM: Linda Anderson, Deputy Superintendent
RE: Rationale for denial of Imagine Main Street Charter Petition

1. Organizational Concerns: Imagine Main Street adjusted every item requested in the original raters’
memo with the exception of removing themselves as the management company. However, recently
Imagine, LLC ceased operations as a LLC and became a Georgia non-profit. Although we are pleased
with the changes in the Georgia Division of this national educational management organization, Imagine
Inc.’s new Georgia organizational structure still faces challenges. During our discussions, Imagine, Inc.
personnel worked for hours with FCS staff. The respect and trust that Imagine personnel had from the
community was evident. We will closely watch the company as it adjusts to its new operating structure.
However, we are not assured at this time of the restructured division’s ability to avoid a reoccurrence in
Fulton County of the challenges encountered in other school systems.

2. Governance Concerns: The charter has been altered to allow the charter board, which is now
comprised of parents, to contract Imagine for the turn-key operations to begin the process of establishing
an International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) school. A draft of the contract is included in the
revised petition. It also includes a “Divorce Clause” for either party in the contract resulting in:
a. continued operations until the end of the academic year
b. the return of all Imagine property and outstanding lease payments (The ownership of the
school facility, which is paid for by Imagine, Inc. under charter board approval through an
Operating Expenses Fund, is not specified in the contract.)
c. payment from the charter board to Imagine, Inc. of all outstanding indirect costs allocations
for the year
d. payment from the charter board to Imagine, Inc. of the entire outstanding development
allocation in a lump-sum amount equal to $2,500.00 multiplied by the remaining number of
months between 240 (the lengths of the obligation being entered into by the charter board) and
the number of monthly payments already discounted at a rate of 10.5% per annum.
This financial arrangement requires a significant risk on the part of the charter board.
3. Sustainability Concerns: An additional concern is that the identified building is only large enough to
house the primary program but can not house the middle years program which the petitioner plans to
start before the end of the charter term. There is no accompanying high school program for the students
to attend if the middle years program is successfully started in a new location.

For these reasons, we recommend denial of this petition and request that the Superintendent direct staff
to work with interested parents and community members in the historic tri-cities area to investigate with
all due speed alternatives for implementing a similar program within the school system which will meet
the needs and goals for children over the entire scope of their time in public education.

WHAT THIS ALL SUMS UP TO IS FULTON COUNTY WANTS TO DO AN IB CONVERSION CHARTER ON THEIR OWN, HOWEVER THEY HAVE NOTHING IN THE WORKS AND NOTHING IN PLACE TO IMPLEMENT. WE MAY GET A CHARTER ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL BE ON THEIR TERMS AND THEIR TIME FRAME; USING US TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!

PLEASE GET PISSED AND MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE TIRED OF BEING WALKED ALL OVER. THE SIMPLE FACT IS THAT OUR SCHOOLS ARE SOME OF THE WORST IN THE STATE AND IN THE NATION!

UPDATE, JUNE 23.
Our charter petition is finally in the hands of the Superintendent and the FCBOE. Imagine has made all the requested changes to the charter and resubmitted it yesterday. Myself and Kelly from Imagine Schools both received a phone call from our charter liaison who confirmed that Imagine has made all the necessary changes and in her words "Gone above and beyond". She felt that nothing in the wording of the charter should present any problems and that our only real obstacle at this time is if the FCBOE feels comfortable with Imagine and is wanting to work with them.

At this time we are asking everyone to please contact the Superintendent as well as the entire FCBOE school board to reassure them that as a community we fully support Imagine schools and trust that they are our best option. You need to contact them before July 10th.

http://www.fultonschools.org/board_members.asp

It is now up to you. If you truly want a new school, the FCBOE has to hear from everyone.

Update - June 19th - By Wayne Whitesides
The Fulton County School Board (FCBOE) voted on June 10th to extend our charter application for further review and requested changes to the charter. Currently, Imagine is working closely with the FCBOE to make all of the necessary changes to the petition to satisfy their conditions and concerns. All of this information must be submitted to the FCBOE by 6/24 and the Board will vote via conference call on 7/11 whether to deny or approve.

One current issue by the FCBOE is their perception of Imagine Schools. As a group we have known for sometime that Imagine has had some problems with a few of their schools, most of which are larger schools. As a group we have discussed this concern over and over again and have decided to stick with Imagine as we still feel this is our best option. We have looked for encouragement by how well Imagine Wesley in Atlanta is doing as proof that Imagine knows what they are doing and are looking out for our best interests. It is up to Imagine to prove to the FCBOE that they are a much added value to our school.

Here is the memorandum from the charter review committee with their recommendations

We have been working hard with a liaison to the FCBOE as well in the event that our charter does not get approved. Hopefully this will not be the case, but if it should be denied here is a list of what our choices will be going forward. Note: there are many variables to the below list. This is just a quick overview of what our current options are.

Imagine wins: They make the requested changes that FCBOE has requested and prove to them that they are a benefit to not only us, but to them. We can then move forward to our Fall of 2009 opening.
Resubmit a new charter: Should the charter get denied. We cannot use Imagine’s charter and would have to resubmit even if we went with a new EMO or went out on our own. If we go this route we would be looking at a Fall 2010 opening.
Petition to the State: We can petition to the state with our current charter, however we would not get full funding in doing so as we are grandfathered in to the current system. If we resubmit and get denied again, then we could petition the state and get full funding for a 2010 opening.
Work with the county to get a new PYP charter: This is doable and from the sounds of it, the county is on board to do this, but the soonest this option could happen would be 2010, but more like 2011. There is some debate as to whether this would still be a true charter as the descions would still come from the FCBOE. However I was assured by the county that we would have a lot of control over the day to day of the school. Trust seems to be a common question and concern by many that as a group we would need to discuss.
Work with the county to get a new conversion PYP charter: Again very doable, but probably wouldn’t happen until 2010. To do a conversion would mean changing one our current schools into a Charter. There is a lot of people who would have to approve this option and in the end we wouldn't adding a new school to the area, just retooling one.
Work with a current local school and take it over: Our liaison used the school Sarah Smith in Buckhead as an example of a group of parents who were frustrated and all decided to not put their children into private school and push their efforts into the neighborhood public school. http://www.sarahsmithelementary.com/ They decided on a new curriculum and forced the county to make a lot of changes at the school. There is something called a LSAC (Local School Advisory Council)), which apparently has similar power to what we are wanting with our charter. We would make a lot of school dynamic changes, like uniforms for example if we chose and advise on the day to day budget. From what I was told, all schools have one; just most don’t use it to their full potential. Our liaison said we could change the school to a PYP within a school year if we had the numbers. Our we could work towards another program, like the FCBOE’s “Arts now program” or something other and save the PYP for a charter in 2010 or 2011. This may be a good way to get two schools going in the right direction within a short period. The downside is we are forcing our will on an existing school and I’m sure it will bring a lot of issues with it. This option would not be a charter option, but a traditional school. From what I was told the FCBOE can change to a PYP program overnight without going through any hoops. I’m sure there’s a lot more involved and some politics would of course be at play. This also brings up the problem of many of us ignoring our district schools to make one school good. College Park Elementary has been proposed as it currently is the only local school that has the capacity for a new large enrollment. I believe their current enrollment is 297 students. Hapeville and most East Point schools are close to or at capacity. Also at the last FCBOE meeting the school board discussed open enrollment for all Fulton County schools. It was brought up as a redistricting problem for a lot of North Fulton schools, but this could also serve our best interests as well, so please voice your opinion to your board member regardless of our charter outcome.
Work with a current local school and work towards a new PYP Charter: All go into a school and keep the current curriculum but hover over the school to make it better while working towards getting either a new EMO managed charter, a community run charter or a county run charter.

REGARDLESS OF OUR OUTCOME WITH IMAGINE WE NEED YOU TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR BOARD REPRESENTATIVES AND MAKE THEM AWARE THAT YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH OUR CURRENT SITUATION. WE HAVE DONE OUR PART AND ALL THAT WE CAN AT THIS POINT, IT'S NOW UP TO YOU AND THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY TO PUSH THE FCBOE AND HELP US MAKE A CHANGE.

http://www.fultonschools.org/board_members.asp

Fulton County Board of Education Work Session- UPDATE - May 5th

Once again, the date and time has changed to show our support to the Fulton
County BOE for Imagine Main Street Academy's charter school petition.

We now do not need you to attend the May 6th, 6:30pm work session meeting. Our
presentation to the Fulton County BOE has been moved to 2:00pm, May 6th.
You may want to attend this meeting to obtain more information about Imagine
Main Street Academy, Our Charter School however we will need you to show your
support at the May BOE meeting on Thursday, 5/15, 6:30p @ Dunwoody Springs
Charter Elementary School. The vote will take place at the June 12th BOE
meeting.

The charter petition for Imagine Main Street Academy, A Charter School has
made it through two out of three rounds of review by Fulton County. The
Fulton County Charter Liaison representative informed us that the remaining
number of charter school petitions is four. Seven charter petitions were
submitted. We do not know at this time how many of the petitions are from
South Fulton or North Fulton.

Thank you for your understanding of all of the changes and for your support!

Click Here for the latest pdf flyer of our current charter progress and obstacles we still need to tackle.

Or go to Imagine Schools Website for additional information about all Imagine Charter Schools.

Currently we are working on getting our charter approved by the Fulton County School Board for a 2009 opening. There are several things that you can do to help before that time. Please take the time to do at least one or all of the below items.

1. Sign the Online Petition Go to the Imagine Georgia Schools Website to sign the petition and learn more about Imagine and how they are fighting for our rights to have public school choices in our area.

2. Write or email your Georgia representatives to have them support Charter friendly legislation. (note: you need to put in your full address to make sure your letter goes to the correct representative.

3. Go to our Blog site and get and stay involved. We need EVERYONE's help! The blog site will also keep you up to date as we progress. So please check often.

4. Write a letter of support and email us to find out how to get the letter to us. Or hold on to it and bring it to the next Neighborhood meeting that will be in early November.

5. We need letters from businesses supporting school choice in the area. Large, medium, small.... we need their support. They can either use this letter as is and put it on their letterhead, or write a more personal letter of support. Either way, the more we have the better our chances are. Again, please email us for our mailing address or hold on to them for the next public meeting.

PAST MEETING MINUTES:

Charter Meeting 20
Charter Meeting 19
Charter Meeting 18
Charter Meeting 17
Charter Meeting 16
Charter Meeting 15
Charter Meeting 14
Charter Meeting 13
Charter Meeting 12
Charter Meeting 11
Charter Meeting 10
Charter Meeting 09
Charter Meeting 08
Charter Meeting 07
Charter Meeting 06
Charter Meeting 05
Charter Meeting 04
Charter Meeting 03
Charter Meeting 02
Charter Meeting 01

CONTACT INFORMATION:

How to get in touch with us:
Carol Shaginaw
Founding Committee President
carolshaginaw@comcast.net

Wayne Whitesides
Founding Committee Vice President
w_home@ethicinc.com

Noel Mayeske
Founding Committee Secretary
nmayeske@hotmail.com

Audrey Thompson
Treasurer
audreykthompson@gmail.com