State findings against Macon Charter Academy 'premature and unwarranted,' school says

Macon Charter Academy leaders plan to fight the state's attempts to close the school, saying that findings in a recent state report were "unwarranted."

On Friday, Prestige Charter School Solutions responded to the state Department of Education's claims regarding the potential termination of the school's charter, or operating contract.

Suzanne Wood, a Prestige representative who is working with MCA, issued a written statement on the school's behalf. The school hired Prestige earlier this year as a management consultant.

"It is the position of Macon Charter Academy that the actions of the Georgia Department of Education are premature and unwarranted charges based on two people who observed a handful of shortcomings that can be observed in any public school in the state of Georgia on any given day," Wood wrote in the statement.

Student behavioral concerns, specifically one student throwing a chair at another and other students who were disruptive without being redirected by a teacher, were among the actions cited in the state's letter, which was sent to school and Bibb County school district officials Thursday.

The letter said MCA owes the IRS $65,000 for unpaid payroll taxes. It also said that classroom behavior management training for teachers had been lacking, even though MCA's reports to the state indicated it had been completed.

Wood, who once served on the school's governing board, said that while the school's next steps had not been finalized, MCA would seek a termination hearing -- if the state chooses to pursue closure -- and would fight to stay open.

"We will be consulting with our attorneys and leadership on how to proceed with the Georgia Department of Education's preordained response mechanisms," Wood wrote. "We look forward to filing a vigorous response to the initial recommendations and look forward to presenting a vigorous case before the Georgia Department of Education at a time they so designate."

The school's support team also extends beyond the governing board and administrators, Wood said. She wrote that teachers and parents would also "not go quietly" in the face of termination proceedings.

"We are committed to the idea of charter school opportunities in Bibb County for students of every race and every socioeconomic background regardless of the school's geographic location," she said.

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

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "State findings against Macon Charter Academy 'premature and unwarranted,' school says ."