The Coweta County School System will hold a public listening session on Feb. 24 to discuss school system flexibility options relating to the Coweta County Board of Education’s decision move to IE2 system status.
The meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb. 24at 7:30 p.m., at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Lower Fayetteville Road.
School system spokesman Dean Jackson said the session will give the public an opportunity to learn more about the school system’s decision to apply for IE2 system status with the state of Georgia. Superintendent Dr. Steve Barker and Director of Public Policy Mark Whitlock will hold the public session.
Jackson said a draft IE2 application was presented to the Board of Education for review at their February 10 monthly meeting. An online version of that document can be found on the school system’s website at www.cowetaschools.org.
“The Coweta County School System’s draft application has been posted for the purpose of public review and discussion,” said Jackson. “The details of the draft document may change following local public review or in discussions with state officials to establish the district’s IE2 status. A final application is expected to be filed with the Georgia Department of Education before June 30.”
Jackson said all school districts in Georgia must declare a flexibility option by that date in order to continue to receive waivers from the state Board of Education. Waivers allow flexibility from a limited number of state laws and state rules. School system flexibility options that yield waivers are Investing in Educational Excellence (IE2) or Charter System. A school district that chooses to operate without waivers will become a Status Quo district, with very limited flexibility options, said Jackson.
“To become an IE2 district, a school system enters into a contract with the state which provides greater freedom from specified state education regulations in return for greater accountability for student achievement,” Jackson said.
A five-year IE2 contract defines specific state educational laws and rules (Title 20 provisions, State Board of Education rules and Georgia Department of Education guidelines), specifies how schools and district will use that flexibility to improve student achievement, and identifies the terms on which the district will be held accountable for higher student performance.
The Coweta school board approved a letter in January notifying the state of Georgia that the school system will pursue IE2 status as the system’s flexibility option.
The Coweta County School System has discussed flexibility options, Charter System and IE2 System status since 2011, including numerous public hearings, public surveys and community and school focus groups. The Board originally declared intent for Charter System status in June 2014, but changed intent to IE2 with their letter in January, Jackson explained.
Jackson said the change was recommended to the board by Barker following recent clarifications of state rules governing ‘”Investing in Educational Excellence” (IE2) status for school systems. Those clarifications made the terms of the flexibility option more reasonable than when the board first declared intent, and made IE2 a viable alternative for school systems.
“At the time of this board’s selection of Charter System status, the guidelines and consequences outlined in IE2 were not good options for the district,” said Barker. “Primarily, the consequences required potential total loss of control of a school.”
Following clarifications of state rules regarding IE2 and Charter System flexibility options, the school board invited State Department of Education Associate Superintendent Lou Erste to present new IE2/ Charter System details to the board and district administrators in October.
“Both IE2 and Charter System options will allow a district to implement desired innovations while also utilizing flexibility from a limited amount of state laws and state rules,” Jackson said. “A Charter System, however, would also require new local school governance councils, additional ongoing training, and holding required monthly meetings. School councils currently operate in all Coweta schools at this time.”
Among the factors considered as a system flexibility option is chosen are other sweeping and significant changes currently being required of all Georgia districts. These include new evaluation systems for teachers and administrators that are required throughout Georgia. A new state assessment instrument, also a state-wide requirement, must now also be implemented at each school. These required changes will be the focus of implementation plans across Georgia school districts, said Jackson.
