The Main Street Academy on March agenda --- UPDATE

Clarification: After this story was posted, Andrew Broy, of the Ga. Department of Education, sent an email apologizing for incorrect information.  He wrote that he got confused when responding to The JP Hub question.

My apologies, I misspoke and was thinking of another school.  Main street was not applying to the commission -- the SBOE will vote on the school at the March meeting.  The charter will only be granted if the SBOE approves it in March.

The charter school planned for East Point, College Park and Hapeville gained the approval of a state education panel to open its doors to students in the fall is on the agenda for the state Board of Education March meeting.

A state education official emailed The Jefferson Park Hub Tuesday, Feb. 16, about the status of The Main Street Academy. Here's what he wrote:

The Main Street Academy approval by the Commission was not overturned by the (State Board of Education) last week, so the charter is proper and the school can open this fall.


_____________________________
Andrew W. Broy
Associate Superintendent, Policy, External Affairs, and Charter Schools
Office of Policy and External Affairs
Georgia Department of Education

There has been great interest in the charter school proposal. Several hundred people attended a community meeting in January about the charter school and requests for seats in the school are nearly at capacity.

TMSA leaders attended the state meetings last week, to speak to members of the state education board about its efforts.
"TMSA has received a recommendation for approval by the charter division, but we will not have official state approval until the State BOE votes on 3/11/10," said Stacy Kerber, a founding committee member of TMSA, in an email.

For more information about charter schools, the state Education Department has a FAQ section.