Negotiations

continued this week as parents and organizers of a

proposed Odyssey charter school tried to address many of

the Coweta County School System's questions.

Representatives

from the Odyssey School and the Coweta County School

System met yesterday to try and hammer out the issues

that concern school officials. School system officials

presented Odyssey School officials with a 30-page list of

concerns that would have to be addressed before the

school system's staff would recommend approval of the

charter school to the Coweta County Board of Education.

The Charter

Schools Act of 1998 cleared the way for charter schools

to be organized in the state. The intent of the bill is

to provide an alternative to public schools with parents

making many of the decisions on how the school is run.

Odyssey

officials met Monday night at Crossroads Baptist Church

in Sharpsburg and listened as organizer Jan Buchwald told

the 40 parents that opening the proposed school is

getting closer.

The biggest

hurdle the group faces in opening the school this school

year is a facility, but Buchwald said that issue could be

settled by July 15.

School

officials are looking at letting the charter school use

an existing facility, such as the old school at Madras,

to house the proposed 100 students of the charter school.

If the

school system offers a facility, Buchwald said the

proposed budget of the charter school would be

dramatically slashed. Buchwald said exact figures on

starting up the school will not be known until the

facility issue is addressed.

During

Monday night's meeting, Odyssey School organizers elected

an interim board to work with the school system on the

concerns surrounding the charter school. Buchwald was

elected president, while Tim Smith was elected vice

president.

Smith

emphasized that everyone must get involved for the school

to be successful.

"Everything

in this school will be run by parents," he said.

If

everything goes smoothly in negotiations with the school

system, Buchwald said it's possible the school could open

If

negotiations bog down and the charter school isn't

recommended to the board by its August meeting, the

school could possibly open in October, she said.

Buchwald

added that a 100-student school serving grades K-8 would

probably feature six classes and no extracurricular

activities for the first year.

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