Gwinnett Schools suing over charter school's funding

Gwinnett Schools recently lost nearly $850,000 to Ivy Preparatory Academy of Norcross when the girls charter school received its first taste of matching local funds for the education of students from the state.

The Charter Schools Commission authorized Ivy Prep to operate in Gwinnett County and afforded it the opportunity to be funded like any other public school. The Gwinnett County Board of Education, however, voted unanimously Thursday to challenge the state’s actions with a lawsuit.

“We do not believe the commission has the constitutional authority to establish a state-wide independent school system as it is doing in authorizing its own charter schools,” Wilbanks said. “We also do not believe the commission has the constitutional authority to direct local dollars to the operation of commission-approved charter schools. The board’s decision to pursue this legal action was precipitated by the state’s unconstitutional erosion of local control.”

Gwinnett Schools’ constitutional challenge follows those of other districts in Florida and Colorado that also protested the growth of charter schools approved and funded outside their authority.

A lawsuit in Florida by the Duval County School Board and other supporting districts successfully challenged the power of a charter authorizer there. The Florida Schools of Excellence Commission was dissolved in December after an appeals court found that the legislation creating it conflicts with the Florida Constitution, which gives local school boards, not the state, the authority to operate public schools.

The Colorado lawsuit, however, upheld the constitutionality of its charter authorizer.

An early copy of Gwinnett’s lawsuit obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution names State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox; the state Department of Education; Ben Scafadi, chairman of the Georgia Charter Schools Commission; charter commission board members; and Ivy Preparatory Academy as defendants.

It argues that the commission “operates as a de facto independent school system ... the Defendants are funding an unconstitutional entity and illegally using locally levied school tax revenues to provide the funding.”

The lawsuit suggests that Ivy Prep’s charter be “null and void.”

“The funding is illegal,” said attorney Mike Bowers, who is representing Gwinnett Schools in the case.

Gwinnett Schools could be joined by other districts in the lawsuit. Another commission charter school may also face legal action. Statesboro’s Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts & Technology received $367,464 from state allocations redirected from Bulloch County Public Schools recently.

“I think this is unconstitutional. ... We are following Gwinnett,” said Lewis Holloway, superintendent of Bulloch. He said the school attorney is working on a lawsuit challenging the reallocation.

Officials with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office said late Thursday they had not yet received a courtesy copy of the lawsuit, but are expecting the filing. “We will take a look at the suit when it is filed and served on us, and we will respond accordingly,’’ said Daryl Robinson, counsel for the attorney general.

State Department of Education officials maintain that the money that went to Ivy Prep belonged to the state. Ivy Prep is slated to receive more than $1 million from the districts it draws students from as its local share.

“The law is clear. It is state money that is affected,” said Andrew Broy, associate superintendent who oversees charter schools. “Nothing in the law allows or permits the state to direct local funds.’’

Scafadi, chairman of the Charter Schools Commission, said Ivy Prep, which has a $2 million budget, would be hurt by a funding cut. Late last month, the school was struggling to make payroll when it received its first matching share allocation carved from state funds reserved for Gwinnett Schools.

The state’s largest school system receives an annual allotment of $650,557,949 for the education of its 160,036 students from the state’s funding formula. Ivy Prep draws most of its students from Gwinnett and DeKalb.

“We fund public schools at a certain level,” Scafadi said. “I don’t see why charter public schools should be treated dramatically less favorably. For the sake of the students, the teachers and the two schools that we approved, we hope that funds are not frozen.”

Nina Gilbert, head of school for Ivy Prep, said she was disappointed that she could not find a way to work with Gwinnett Schools, which rejected its charter request in 2007. “My focus has been and will continue to be on instruction,” she said. The school has 310 students.

Nevertheless, Wilbanks said Gwinnett Schools must protect its interests. He said Ivy Prep receives a larger “local share” than two other charter schools already in the school district’s fold. Losing funding to the school was like losing money that could have been spent to hire 25 teachers.

“This is not an anti-charter school lawsuit. The Gwinnett County Board of Education already has approved two successful charter schools,” Wilbanks said. “We have had some tough budget times ... any cut we have now hurts.”

Staff writers Bill Rankin and Patrick Fox contributed to this article.