During

1999, the Coweta County School System dealt with a number

of issues to try and keep up with more than 700 new

students streaming into the county on a yearly basis.

One of the

more contentious issues started in April and its final

fate has still not been decided.

In late

November, the Coweta County Board of Education

unanimously rejected the fifth petition by the Odyssey

group for a parent-run charter school in the county.

The Odyssey

Group has been attempting for nearly a year to start a

charter school on the eastern side of the county and

offer parents an alternative to the school system's

regular schools.

While board

members made no comment on the petition, secondary

curriculum director Dr. Judy Robinson presented the board

with a list of problems the newly established charter

school committee had with the proposal.

One problem

the committee had was the Odyssey group's contention that

it is exempt from all state and local policies except

those required in the charter school law.

Odyssey

officials presented the board with a letter from an

attorney for the state Board of Education stating that a

blanket exemption was okay, but school officials said it

was in conflict with their local policies.

Other

problems the committee had with the proposal included

inconsistencies in the budget, along with no specific

site for the school.

After the

vote, Odyssey School organizer Jan Buchwald said the

group would wait to see if any new legislation pertaining

to charter schools was brought up in next month's General

Assembly session.

Specifically,

Buchwald said legislation might be introduced to allow a

charter school group to appeal its case to the state

Board of Education after being rebuffed by the local

board.

Buchwald

also said many of the system's problem with the petition

were not correct.

In regard

to an exemption being in conflict with local policies,

Buchwald said the reverse is true. Since the charter

school law was adopted in 1998 and the school system's

charter school policy was developed in 1999, Buchwald

maintains the system's policy is in conflict with the

state law.

Buchwald

said inconsistencies in the budget can be attributed to

the fact that it is only a proposed budget.

She

maintains the budget is front-loaded because it was

modeled after the system's Central Education Center's

charter school budget.

As for a

site, Buchwald said a site is not required by the Charter

Schools Act.

"A

facility cannot be secured without the charter being

approved, and it is very difficult to have a facility on

stand-by 11 months prior to school starting," she

said.

Another

issue that caused controversy last year was redistricting

of elementary school lines.

Last May,

the school board came under fire for trying to combine

the populations of Newnan Crossing Elementary and White

Oak Elementary schools.

The school

board called a public hearing last spring to discuss a

controversial proposal to put all kindergarten through

second grade students at Newnan Crossing and third

through fifth grade students at White Oak.

With nearly

300 parents on hand ready to joust, school board Chairman

Mike Sumner defused the crowd before the first shot could

be fired.

"We

have decided not to recommend adoption of the proposal to

the superintendent," said Sumner.

The

deciding factor, according to the board chairman, was the

number of e-mails the system received about the issue. He

estimated the system received more than 100 e-mails, with

50 of them arriving at the office Wednesday.

The school

board is trying to solve three problems, Sumner said.

First,

White Oak is overcrowded. The school has 800 students

this year.

Second,

Newnan Crossing is being under-used with a population of

only 450 students.

Third,

there is a high concentration of at-risk students at

Newnan Crossing.

The board

chairman said the newly established committee would look

at possible solutions including redistricting and

building an addition at White Oak.

In

November, Vickie Dell, representing the White Oak family,

told the Board of Education that the parents still wanted

an addition, instead of redistricting.

"We

need to make sure children are representative of that

district and let it stay as it is," she said.

But David

Stern, whose child attends Newnan Crossing Elementary,

said his school is well below capacity and school

officials should take several factors into consideration

when drawing new lines.

"Don't

split subdivisions or try to achieve a racial balance.

Leave politics out of the picture and do what's best for

the children," he said.

Sam

Harkness, who represented Jefferson Parkway Elementary,

said the consensus of his school family is that the lines

should be left as they are.

Harkness

said the school's pupil/teacher ratio is currently at an

ideal level and any drastic increase or decrease would

"adversely" affect the programs at the school.

Board

chairman Mike Sumner thanked the parents for their

support in the process and said the board would take

their concerns into consideration.