Macon Charter board votes to bring in Renaissance School Services

In an effort to keep its school open, Macon Charter Academy's governing board voted to open a contract with Renaissance School Services at a called meeting Wednesday night.

The meeting was originally scheduled as a forum for parents to express concerns and give feedback on the school's future, but that future came into question ahead of a state Board of Education meeting set for Thursday.

MCA is expected to be a topic of discussion for the state board's charter schools committee, and many in attendance Wednesday evening felt that the school was up against a "hard deadline" to make a decision about Renaissance or a similar organization.

"We are at a place where time has run out. That's just the truth," said Lonnicia Maxwell, president of the MCA board. "The state has very little patience with Macon Charter Academy."

Wednesday's meeting, like a similar meeting in November, was called without 24 hours notice as required under Georgia's Open Meetings Act.

While some of the parents spoke against the selection of Renaissance, many expressed their support for the decision. Augustus Davis has two children at the school and said he saw only one choice, even though the school's governing board had presented Ed Judie as an alternative solution in a role as executive director.

"The decision is take Renaissance so our kids can continue to come to this school," he said.

State officials had encouraged MCA to work with an educational service provider like Renaissance to rectify issues of governance, finance and operations that landed the school on probation earlier this year.

"The state is in our business, so to speak, because we didn't handle it," said Charles Rutland, one of the school's founders.

Another parent, Leroy Foster, urged the board and other leaders to put aside "hurt feelings" and past issues to do what was best for the students at the school. After the decision was made, he reiterated the idea that it was the only option the board had.

"I think that there's just a dire need at this point," Foster said. "I think their hands are just tied at this point."

One concern parents and board members alike had about Renaissance was the cost. At a recent Bibb County school board meeting, Renaissance's fee for its turnaround services at MCA was estimated to be about $400,000.

While Maxwell said the MCA board's financial analysis deemed that cost not feasible for the school, Renaissance Senior Vice President Rob Giordano said his own assessment revealed a different outlook if his company got involved with finances and other operations.

"There's enough money in this budget to not only do this, but to have a little surplus," he said.

Even though Maxwell pointed to the cost as one reason the MCA board ended up "stuck in the weeds" on the decision to bring Renaissance in, she told parents that the company's fee compared well to other similar organizations.

"Even with that, Renaissance is far less expensive than its competitors," she said.

Giordano also addressed the notion that Renaissance would come in and replace all school faculty and staff. While each employee would be interviewed and assessed with changes possible, Giordano said a complete personnel overhaul would not be a part of the process.

"It's absolutely not best for the students," he said. "It's not best for the culture of the school."

MCA's charter does not allow for a contract with an educational services provider, but Maxwell said the board would now work to amend that charter. She said the board would have to "dig deep" to find the funds to pay for Renaissance's involvement with the school but was hopeful state officials would see the move as a sign the board would do what was necessary to help students.

The next scheduled meeting of MCA's board is Dec. 15.

"We're showing that we're moving in the right direction," she said.

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 11:23 PM with the headline "Macon Charter board votes to bring in Renaissance School Services ."