Macon Charter plan involving Prestige gains state approval

Macon Charter Academy's plan for its future gained the approval of state and local leaders Wednesday.

The plan became necessary last month, when the Bibb County school board denied MCA's request for a charter amendment that would've allowed the school to work with an educational services provider. Wednesday, Bibb County Superintendent Curtis Jones spoke on behalf of MCA's plan, said associate state Superintendent Lou Erste.

"And we all agreed to move forward with the execution of the plan -- plus monthly updates from Jones and (MCA governing board Chairman Ed) Grant to me on implementation ... and a June decision on removing the school from probation," Erste wrote in an email. "We also affirmed that we will not be seeking closure of MCA."

The centerpiece of the plan was a contract with Prestige Charter School Solutions, a firm based out of Atlanta that also works with the Academy for Classical Education in north Bibb County.

"While Prestige is not a 'management company' or 'educational services provider' per se, it does offer a service portfolio with tremendous breadth and depth of experience and knowledge backed by measurable guarantees and a proven record of success in Georgia," Grant wrote in a cover letter for the plan.

Grant also acknowledged that MCA's setbacks, which have included three different governing boards, starting school in the Macon Coliseum and probation from the state education department, could all be "traced back to weak, unfocused governance as the root cause" in the letter.

"Moving forward, MCA will continue its work to strengthen its governing board through ongoing training, periodic evaluation and informed leadership," he wrote.

For more on this story, check back with macon.com or pick up Thursday's Telegraph.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Macon Charter plan involving Prestige gains state approval ."