Macon Charter Academy board wants to sever relationship with founders

Macon Charter Academy board members are looking to cut ties with the school's founders, Monya and Charles Rutland, according to a separation agreement approved this week by MCA's school board.

The agreement, obtained by The Telegraph through an Open Records Act request, was approved 3-0 by MCA's board, with Steven DeGeorge abstaining and Leontine Espy absent at a meeting Tuesday night.

The document has yet to be signed by either the board or the Rutlands.

The Rutlands are not legally required to sign the agreement, and it was unclear Thursday what the founders' future with the school may be if they refuse to sign it.

The agreement sets forth the conditions by which MCA's board and the Rutlands could part ways, including a possible $12,000 payout to the Rutlands for any hours they might have worked without compensation.

Other terms laid out in the agreement include a promise that the Rutlands wouldn't file a lawsuit against MCA and would return all property of MCA "and deliver all passwords and administrative rights for all websites" -- including Facebook and Twitter accounts -- established in MCA's name.

Another provision of the agreement states the Rutlands wouldn't make any public comments "that are critical and/or derogatory in nature about MCA." It further outlines that each negative comment could cost them $500.

The separation agreement also seeks to part ways with the Rutlands' nonprofit school-management company, Passport Educational Partners.

Passport Educational Partners had a past contract with MCA and was paid to provide support to MCA's "school leadership team, day-to-day operations, as well as its mission and vision as outlined in the charter petition." The nonprofit received a little more than $12,000 from this past May through June, according to MCA financial records.

Lonnicia Maxwell, MCA's board chairwoman, told The Telegraph on Thursday the board would not be giving an official comment regarding the agreement at this time.

Charles Rutland said in an email response to The Telegraph's request for comment that he was unaware of the document.

"This is the first I have seen or heard of this document," he said. "I would expect it to have come directly from the board."

The separation agreement comes in response to a contract proposal submitted by Passport Educational Partners to the MCA board during a Sept. 22 board meeting.

That board meeting was later the impetus for state education officials to place MCA on probation because of the numerous complaints aired by parents -- from academic to discipline -- during the public comment period that night.

The Rutlands' proposal was seeking 5 percent of the gross funding provided to MCA based on Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act funding formula.

That 5 percent would have amounted to $210,600 per year for the Rutlands, based on the 702 students the school reported at the time. However, enrollment had dropped to 615 students as of earlier this week.

That salary for the Rutlands would have been the highest at MCA, according to MCA's budget records.

The services the Rutlands proposed to offer -- business operations, board support, public affairs, facility management -- coincided with several of the problem areas MCA parents and teachers complained about at the September board meeting.

Those areas of concern were later highlighted in reports by school officials with the Bibb County school district and the Georgia Department of Education.

As mandated by the state, MCA officials submitted a corrective action plan earlier this month and are required to put into place a substantial portion of the plan no later than Nov. 6.

"They've made tremendous progress and have a ways to go," Louis Erste, an associate state superintendent responsible for charter schools, told The Telegraph in an email earlier this week.

To contact writer David Schick, call 744-4382 or find him on Twitter@davidcschick.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Macon Charter Academy board wants to sever relationship with founders ."