District staff recommends probationary 3-year renewals for two Fulton-authorized charter schools; flags academic and financial concerns

Andrea Cooper Gatewood, coordinator of charter schools for Fulton County, presented the district’s review of independent charter-school performance and financial audits at the Jan. 14 work session and recommended probationary three-year renewals for two district-authorized schools.

Gatewood said Fulton currently authorizes seven independent charter schools that serve roughly 3,996 students and that 10 state-authorized charter schools operate inside Fulton County boundaries. She said all seven district-authorized charters completed independent audits and received unqualified (clean) opinions, and that the district also conducts an internal agreed-upon-procedures (AUP) review for compliance and financial metrics.

The staff review highlighted school-by-school academic strengths and challenges. Gatewood cited Amana Academy as “performing exceptionally well” but warned of subgroup gaps and declining cash reserves. Chattahoochee Hills Charter School (presented as Chad Hills) showed middle-school progress above district average but elementary content mastery well below district averages; her presentation noted declining cash-on-hand and a negative total margin. Fulton Academy of Science and Technology (FAST) showed strong content mastery and readiness but lagging progress and gap-closing scores. Gatewood listed KIPP South Fulton as “partially compliant” on finance (one board member’s missing background check and occupancy costs above a 15% threshold) and said Skyview Alternative High School improved its four-year cohort graduation rate to 25.9% while meeting contract metrics for wraparound services.

For renewal recommendations, Gatewood said the district’s renewal committee recommends a probationary three-year renewal for Hapeville Charter Career Academy (HCCA) because of academic concerns including low content-mastery and readiness scores and special-education compliance issues. She recommended a probationary three-year renewal for Main Street Academy (TMSA) because of elementary academic concerns and repeated significant financial audit findings in 2023 and 2024.

Board members asked staff to keep both charter-renewal items on discussion rather than moving them to consent, and to bring the recommendations to community forums and to affected districts for additional feedback. No final renewal votes were taken at the Jan. 14 meeting; both items were presented as first read (agenda items 7.02 and 7.03).

Ending: Gatewood said the appendices contain CCRPI components, financial ratios and the state commission charter list; staff will continue working with those schools during the probationary period if the board approves the recommendation in a later action.