Imagine Mableton Prepares to Move Forward; Governing Board President Resigns

The parents of wanted to know one thing at Tuesday’s town hall meeting: What are the next steps for the school?

The Now, the school is working on four plans to keep the school open, which entails submission of a completely new charter to the Cobb County School District.

“We are not standing still. We’re moving forward. We’re trying to make sure we have options,” said Imagine Schools Georgia Regional Director Henry Stephens, after presenting the four plans below.

1. Submit a letter to the Cobb County School District requesting a timeline or procedure for resubmission. The letter will reference Georgia law and will ask the district to expedite its written notice of reasons for denial. By law, this notice must be given to the school within 60 days.
2. Renew request to amend existing Charter Contract.  
3. File an application for a state charter special school especially considering the reduction of revenue for the LEA status. If this option is chosen, the school must submit the application by Nov. 1 and if approved, the school would only receive half of its current funding.
4. “Appeal” to the state Board of Education.  The Georgia statute and rule both state that local school board denials must be submitted to the State Board so that a determination can be made that the Georgia laws are being applied correctly, but GDOE staff do not currently interpret this as an appeal process. 

As the governing board and Imagine officials choose which plan to follow, they will seek input and will communicate with parents. Transparency is a top priority, IIAM officials said repeatedly on Tuesday night.

One of the issues pointed out by the Cobb BOE is the lack of stability in the school’s leadership, including vacancies on the school’s governing board. Without a governing board president and a permanent principal, the school may continue to struggle with leadership issues.

Joslyn Jackson, president of IIAM's governing board, announced her resignation, effective immediately, from the board on Wednesday.

Dr. Marcus Barber announced his resignation in a letter to parents and students, which was read aloud at the Tuesday meeting.

“I know for some of you this is a feeling of déjà vu,” said then-IIAM governing board president Joslyn Jackson said about Barber’s resignation, which was a move to maintain his health. He had lost a great deal of weight and had been placed on bed rest by doctors due to the stress from the charter renewal process.

 “Mr. Owmby will be in place in the interim until we’re able to identify a permanent leader. We plan on doing that very, very quickly,” Jackson said at the meeting. “We don’t want you to expect any negative changes.”

Strengthening the school’s governing board and balancing its budget were two of the main concerns voiced by parents. The school is taking steps to fill vacant positions on its governing board and two governing board candidates introduced themselves during the meeting.

Jackson said the school is considering hiring James Wilson, a consultant, who was hired by International Academy of Smyrna.

“We’re hopeful that he may be able to help to provide us with insight and some avenues we may not have already explored to help us to be successful,” Jackson said. “We are willing to do what we need to do.”

For some, the governing board and its members were the scapegoat for the school’s charter denial.

“It’s easy to say, ‘It’s the board’s fault. It’s the board’s fault.’ Yeah, but none of those people are here. We had a huge void in the most important piece of running the school,” said Troy Johnson, a member of IIAM’s governing board and father to a sixth-grader at the school.

Johnson pointed out that the board was almost nonexistent until last year, when he and others volunteered to assemble a board to prepare for the charter renewal process.

“We were the ones trying to be the solution,” Johnson explained.

Parents said they are tired of hearing about past challenges and are ready to move forward.

“I don’t care what happened two, three years ago. We need to do it now. We need to start now,” one parent said.