Charter School Turns Back to Cherokee Board for Approval

Its future in limbo after , Cherokee Charter Academy is returning to the local board that twice rejected its petition to open the county's first charter school.

"For those who have been following this journey closely, I'm sure this solution comes as quite a surprise to you," members of the Georgia Charter Educational Foundation and the Cherokee Charter Academy Local Governing Council wrote in a letter to parents. "Please know that everyone involved with this effort would not knowingly waste your time on a solution that we felt was not feasible to attain."

The makeup of the Cherokee County Board of Education has changed since members denied Cherokee Charter's application in 2009 and 2010. There are three new members, and two of them campaigned on a platform of supporting school choice, charter officials wrote in the letter.

"We MUST move fast," they wrote in the letter. "The next school board meeting is this Thursday ... and in order for there to be a vote on the issue, we must first get it on the agenda."

They urged parents to "overwhelm" the board with requests to overturn previous decisions and approve Cherokee Charter as a district-sponsored charter school. When the district denied Cherokee Charter's last application in July 2010, Superintendent Frank Petruzielo and board members said officials didn't gather enough public support to gain their approval.

"We need to remind them that 2,600 children applied for Cherokee Charter Academy, and 1,150 are planning to attend," charter officials wrote. "This time we HAVE to show them they were wrong."

Although the school's planned location is in Canton, the families who applied and were accepted include other parts of the county such as Holly Springs and Hickory Flat.

After Monday's state Supreme Court ruling became public,  spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby released this statement to Patch on behalf of Petruzielo:

"The school board attorney and staff are analyzing today’s Georgia Supreme Court decision regarding charter schools and its potential impact. After these analyses are complete, information will be shared with the school board and others who are interested. All current state laws and policies regarding charter schools will continue to be adhered to by the school district."

See the PDF with this article for the full text of Cherokee Charter Academy's letter to parents. Stay tuned to Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch for updates on this developing story.