MACON, Ga. — The State Charter School Commission (SCSC) has placed Cirrus Academy in Macon on probation after the school failed to meet certain state-mandated standards, according to a letter sent to the school by Donovan Head, executive director of the charter school commission.
The SCSC immediately placed the school on probation in the four-page letter sent on Friday.
Charter schools, like Cirrus Academy, are privately run schools that receive public money. They are run outside of local school districts, like the Bibb County School District, but they face oversight from the SCSC.
But in exchange, the schools must follow certain rules, like not being religiously affiliated and having open and fair admissions. Plus, they must meet certain academic, financial or operational standards.
Over the last two years, the school has failed to meet the state's operational standards each year, and it also was unable to meet academic standards in another year, according to the letter.
In 2022, the school met academic standards for the first time in the school's history. The school was founded in 2016.
However, the oversight board also honed in on leadership failures and tensions between school officials and the school board.
They say that — under Georgia Law, State Board of Education rules and the Cirrus Academy's charter contract — the school board must be able to "exercise substantive control over the school's operations."
The State Charter School Commission says that the school board and school officials need to "work collaboratively" to meet the standards the charter school commission set for the school.
According to the letter, the SCSC says that complaints against the Cirrus School Board have increased since March 2023, when three school board members resigned. They say complaints have been aimed at the board's governance and lack of transparency.
Then, 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.
According to the charter, the school board must have five members. They only have four.
The board failed to adopt a valid operating budget because it didn't hold public hearings beforehand and did not adopt an academic calendar.
Plus, the school's website also does not have its current charter, its current board members, contact information for the board or the recent meeting's minutes.
"In addition, the governing board failed to timely approve items essential to school operation, including but not limited to school calendars, handbooks and organizational charts," the letter said.
But the SCSC acknowledged deep fissures between the Cirrus' school board and the school's officials, which has complicated their ability to do business.
"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.
They say the Cirrus Academy school board has worked to try and defuse the tension between the board and school officials. They "indicated plans" to address the tensions with the school's leadership team.
"However, it is unclear whether improvements, if any, have restored the governing board's ability to provide effective leadership and oversee school operations, as required," the letter said.
Cirrus Academy is currently operating under a probationary two-year charter.
To get their charter renewed, the SCSC says that schools must meet "academic, financial and operational standards" in two of the three most recent years where data is available.
The letter orders that the district create and file a "corrective action plan" that offers: a plan for meeting academic and operational performance standards and a plan for increasing collaboration between the school board and school officials.
Cirrus can ditch its probationary status if it makes good on its corrective plan, and the SCSC could also remove the probation status if it finds that the issues causing the probation are resolved.
We will continue to provide updates as they become available.
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