EDISON — After a unanimous 7-0 vote, Pataula Charter Academy was one of seven charter petitions that was approved by the State Charter School Commission in a Monday morning meeting in Atlanta.

“We are elated to finally know that our year-long journey has been well worth it,” said Kylie Holley, chairman of the founding Pataula Charter Academy. “We are looking forward to the next phase of the process, which will be filling our school with eager children, parents and staff.”

Added Pataula board member Ben Dismukes: “It’s extremely gratifying. We’ve worked extremely hard and it’s extremely rewarding to see the state validate our efforts this way. There’s (also) a personal element since all of us are parents as well, so each of our children will benefit from this and that’s the prime motivation for us doing this.”

The 340-student Bluffton school for grades kindergarten through sixth will open in August. It would have a projected budget of $1.8 million and employ 14 teachers. Like other public schools, Pataula would receive state and federal funds. It would also receive state funds that equal the local amounts that the students leaving would be earning.

“We are authorized as a K-8 school, but we’re just going to start out with K-6, and then we’re going to add seventh (grade) in 2011 and eighth in 2012, and then we’ll also start petitioning the state in that year to start a high school, so that our eighth graders can go on to be in Pataula Charter (Academy) High School,” Holley said.

Holley, who will be the charter school’s principal, said each grade will have two classes. Holley was an elementary teacher for the past 10 years and currently is working on her six-year specialist for education administration degree from Valdosta State University. She’s on course to finish the degree in May. Holley also is part of a four-month pilot program that the Georgia Charter School Association is sponsoring to target charter school leadership.

“Our long-term plan is in Bluffton,” Holley said of the location of the school. “Actually, we have already negotiated with a man that already owns an old school in Bluffton and it would need renovations. The reason I say that is a long-term plan is that the money it would take and the work it would take (means) it’s not realistic that it would be ready for next year. In all likelihood, we’ll probably have to be in Edison. We’re in the process right now to lease a space in (downtown) Edison and we’ll have to have some modulars there, but hopefully that’ll only be for a year.”

Pataula Charter Academy aims to give parents a change from their under performing public schools in Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Early and Randolph counties. According to information provided by Pataula Charter Academy, poor test scores and school attendance are some of the reasons cited for the need to provide a regional charter school.

Calhoun and Early county high schools didn’t achieve Adequate Yearly Progress from 2003-04 to 2007-08 school years. However, all three Early County schools made AYP for the 2008-09 school year.

The five counties academic achievements were particularly low in math, social studies and science, according to Pataula Charter Academy information. Also, all of the five counties have a higher percentage of students with more than 15 days of being absent than the state average.

Both Early County School System Superintendent Kenneth Hall and the Early Board of Education William Davis spoke to The Herald about the state’s decision on Pataula, but declined to go on the record. Davis said he planned to get together with Hall today and send written quotes to The Herald.

Unlike the other six Atlanta-area charter schools that were approved by the State Charter School Commission, the Pataula Charter Academy applied directly to the Georgia charter commission. Due to it serving students in five counties, it was able to skip local consideration.

“We’re thrilled that the Pataula group was approved by the Commission,” Georgia Charter Schools Association Director of Communications Seth Coleman said. “Our association worked closely with them in preparing their petition. They want to bring a quality, public educational choice option to a community that sorely needs it, and we support their efforts 100 percent.”

Jody Redding of the office of Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Atlanta, and James R. Crozier, agriculture specialist/field representative for Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr., D-Albany, e-mailed congratulations to Pataula Charter Academy representatives.

The Pataula Charter Academy plans to soon start releasing employment applications and start the hiring process. The school is already in the process of taking pre-enrollment forms and will accept those through Jan. 8. Enrollment forms will be available at all of the local libraries in the five-county area. An enrollment lottery would be held Jan. 9.

According to a September online survey, Holley said parents of about 150 students indicated that they planned to enroll in the charter school.
Pataula Charter Academy supporters will have a community information meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Bethel Baptist Church on Highway 39 in Fort Gaines. For people who have questions, Holley said people can e-mail pataulacharterschool@hotmail.com.

“We’d love to have a good working relationship with the public school systems and we’ll do anything we can to sit down and talk with them to build a relationship,” Dismukes said. “But, I will add, we’re not going to compromise what we set out to do and that’s to offer a top-notch education to everybody.”