The former state lawmaker hired to run the Ivy Preparatory Academy network of charter schools has resigned.
Alisha Thomas Cromartie told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she is negotiating for a position at Kennesaw State University.
Ivy Prep board chairman Jason Allen did not elaborate: “She decided to go in a different direction,” he said.
Thomas Cromartie had arranged the closure of the once-vaunted Gwinnett County campus, which upset some.
“She wasn’t communicating with the parents at all,” said former PTA president Wendy Baldwin, who hadn’t heard about Thomas Cromartie’s departure until the AJC informed her. Her granddaughter attended the Gwinnett campus, but has had to enroll in a traditional public school due to the closure.
Ivy Prep is still operating a school in Kirkwood, and Baldwin hopes the board will re-open a campus in Gwinnett. “I’m hoping the board reaches out to the PTA to let us know what’s going on,” she said.
Tiffany Nelson, who said she’s “very involved” with the Kirkwood school where her daughter is a rising third grader, got word from Thomas Cromartie Tuesday about her departure.
Nelson said Thomas Cromartie “set a solid foundation” for the school and that she’s confident the remaining leaders will be able to maintain the quality. “I’ve seen remarkable advances and changes over the last few years,” she said.
In a June 28 letter to the board that Thomas Cromartie provided to the AJC, she touted the financial turnaround of the schools under her leadership and academic gains at the Kirkwood campus.
The Kirkwood school had been failing, according to the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, but improved in the 2016-17 school year, earning a "B."
The Gwinnett campus, meanwhile, continued to struggle financially and academically, earning a “D” in 2016-17 and in the prior year. The closure was blamed on declining enrollment, with hopes to find a new location and re-open in a year.
It was a blow to the reputation of an organization that had been heralded as a fine example of school choice.
In November 2012, Gov. Nathan Deal wrote in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that charter schools outperform traditional schools. “A great example is Ivy Prep School … that is outperforming the general population in Gwinnett County schools, which are some of the best in the state.”
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