MACON, Ga. — A Macon charter school, Cirrus Academy, was placed on probation Friday for failing to meet state operational standards. Now, the school is responding to the accusations made by the State Charter School Commission (SCSC).
Charter schools are schools that receive public money, but they are also required to meet certain state standards because of that arrangement. They have to meet state-set operational, financial and academic standards.
Charter schools are often run outside of school districts like the Bibb County School District, and charter schools have their own boards that oversee the work that they do.
In a four-page letter, the SCSC — which oversees and regulates charter schools — outlined a number of concerns about the state of Cirrus Academy. They say the school has failed to meet operational standards over the past two years.
But they also took issue with the school's governance, including deep fissures between school officials and the school board.
The school administration and the school's governing body has been at odds with one another, complicating the ability for the school's governing body to do business..
Plus, the SCSC says that the school board failed to have the ability to "exercise substantive control over the school operations," an issue which they acknowledged had been "frustrated" by the divisions between the school's board and the school's administration.
"It appears the governing board's efforts to oversee school operations have been frustrated by lack of cooperation from school officials, including the superintendent's reported refusal to provide the governing board full access to the school's financial system, and misunderstandings by school officials of the governing board's oversight obligations," the letter said.
During a visit from the SCSC, school officials were warned that the infighting between them and the school board could put the renewal of its charter at risk.
"The school was urged to resolve ongoing challenges in order to place the school on the best possible footing for charter renewal," the letter said.
Additionally, the governing body for the school had three board members resign in March 2023, and the SCSC says that there has been an increase in complaints about the board's governance and transparency since.
Plus, under their bylaws, the school's governing body is also required to have five members while they only have four.
In a joint statement from the Cirrus Academy School Governing Board and the school's Superintendent, while they acknowledged the divisions, they say that have made progress including resolving "delayed operational items" during its recent board meeting.
"Though conflict in the school’s leadership impacted school operations, the Governing Board, Superintendent, and the entire Cirrus community understand and appreciate the critical importance of collaboration and cooperation for effective leadership," Cirrus said in their statement.
In the letter to the school from the SCSC on Friday, they noted that the school had failed to approve school calendars, handbooks and organizational charts.
"The entire Cirrus community understands and appreciates the critical importance of collaboration and cooperation for effective leadership," the school said in the letter. "We are confident that our progress will continue and that our efforts to provide effective leadership will improve the school’s operational compliance and increase student achievement."
Under the terms of the probation, the school is required to file a "Corrective Action Plan" to address the issues outlined by SCSC.
In it, they must outline a plan for meeting academic and operational standards and a plan for how to increase collaboration between the board and school officials, the SCSC letter said.
The SCSC also notes that Cirrus can also lose its probationary status if it follows through on its corrective plan, and the SCSC can also remove the probation status if they believe the underlying issues made in their complaint are resolved.
In a Friday letter to Tiffany Leach, associate general counsel of the State Charter Schools Commission, Cirrus's Board Chair Shirlynn Kelly outlined the steps they were taking to resolve the issues mentioned by the SCSC.
"The governing board acknowledges that it must take significant action to ensure the school's ongoing compliance with its charter contract and applicable law, and the Governing Board is committed to its role in upholding the school's mission and vision, setting policy for the school, and working collaboratively with the school administration to meet the performance goals of its charter contract," the school wrote in a letter.
On Aug. 16, the SCSC told Cirrus that they had "substantiated concerns" that the school board violated their bylaws (since they did not have the minimum number of board members), did not "adhere to website transparency requirements" and hadn't approved a budget or school year calendar.
The school's website also did not have its current charter, its current board members, contact information for the board, or the recent meeting's minutes.
According to the letter from Kelly, they say that the website now includes the school's charter, the governing board's meeting agendas and minutes, and methods to reach out to the Governing board and the school's administration. They also outlined new policies for updating the website.
The SCSC also mentioned in their letter that the board also failed to adopt a valid operating budget because it didn't hold public hearings beforehand.
In the letter to the SCSC, they said that the school's governing board "has not received information and budgetary data" from the school administration that would allow them to create an accurate budget.
But they say that some progress has been made. They say that at a meeting on Aug. 29, the school's staff "committed to working with the Governing Board to develop a more accurate operation budget for FY24,"
The original letter placing the school on probation also noted that the school had not adopted an academic calendar. But the board had also approved an academic calendar on Aug. 29, and they had instructed the school administration to add it to the website.
In the email to 13WMAZ, Cirrus said that they are implementing their corrective action plan.
"Cirrus Academy Charter School will immediately begin executing its corrective action to improve its governance and operational oversight and to ensure that Cirrus Academy Charter School continues to soar in our flight to excellence," the school said.
You can find the full statement beneath this video.
Full statement:
Cirrus Academy Charter School is unwavering in its commitment to its students’ success, and the Governing Board and Superintendent are dedicated to working together to ensure Cirrus provides an excellent education and a safe and healthy learning environment.
Though conflict in the school’s leadership impacted school operations, the Governing Board, Superintendent, and the entire Cirrus community understand and appreciate the critical importance of collaboration and cooperation for effective leadership. In fact, the increased partnership and understanding between the Superintendent and the Governing Board in recent weeks provided the school’s leadership the opportunity to resolve delayed operational items during its most recent board meeting, and the entire leadership team continues to work together to address student and school needs. We are confident that our progress will continue and that our efforts to provide effective leadership will improve the school’s operational compliance and increase student achievement.
Cirrus Academy Charter School will immediately begin executing its corrective action to improve its governance and operational oversight and to ensure that Cirrus Academy Charter School continues to soar in our flight to excellence.