The Georgia State Board of Education and Georgia Charter School Commission have officially approved the Charter petition for Heron Bay Academy, and a charter agreement has been signed with the State.
After continuous efforts to oppose Heron Bay Academy over the past three years, both the Henry Board of Education and the Griffin-Spalding Board of Education have decided to continue their efforts to oppose the recently granted charter. They have elected to file a lawsuit that mirrors existing lawsuits that have already been filed against the State Board of Education, which questions the constitutionality of Charter Schools in general, and the State's ability to grant charters instead of the local boards.
Heron Bay Academy has engaged legal counsel to respond to these claims. We are receiving financial support for our legal effort from the Georgia Charter Schools Association.
Ben Scafidi, the Chairman of the State's Charter School Commission, together with the Georgia Charter School Association are optimistic about dealing with these legal challenges. There are many supporters of the charter school movement nationwide, and it is a cause that is worth fighting for!
We are extremely excited about the State's approval of Heron Bay Academy! They completed a very exhaustive review and analysis of our application, our planned curriculum, our budget, and our academic performance goals, and chose Heron Bay Academy as one of only 7 new charter schools that were approved statewide.
We will continue to move forward with our plans on Heron Bay Academy and look forward to your continued support!
We hope that you will share in the celebration of the success of this approval by joining us on March 3rd for refreshments and information about the school:
Date: Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Heron Bay Lodge
3080 Heron Bay Boulevard
Locust Grove, GA 30248
For additional information, please visit Heron Bay Academy Charter School Information which is located on the homepage of this website.