Macon Charter Academy board to appoint permanent principal

Embattled Macon Charter Academy is expected to name a head of the school this week.

At a special called meeting Saturday, the school's board of directors voted to move forward with hiring a permanent principal. The move comes as school officials await a decision by the state on whether the school's license will be revoked.

Saturday's vote came at the end of a nearly three hour executive session where personnel and real estate matters were discussed. The school could name a principal as early as this week when a special called and regular board meetings take place, board President Ed Grant said.

Since January, Tahisha Edwards, formerly the assistant head of school, has served as interim head of the school. The school has been receiving applications for someone to take over that role long-term, said Linda Smyth , who serves on the school's governing board.

"Dr. Edwards has done a superior job stepping up to the plate following the departure of Dr. (Ron) Boykins," Smyth said.

The school is continuing operations as normal despite an April 7 letter from the state Department of Education that said that problems at the school had "persisted and worsened" in the last six months. The fate of the school is now in the hands of the state school board following the DOE's recommendation for termination.

Smyth said Saturday that the school's board is hopeful the state "will change (its) mind."

Drastic changes have occurred at MCA since it opened in August 2015. Last fall, the school was put on probation and the board asked that MCA's founders Monya and Charles Rutland no longer be affiliated with the school. Edwards was part of a new transitional school leadership team hired in January, and in early February Prestige Charter School Solutions was brought in for management consulting.

Suzanne Wood, a Prestige representative, responded in a statement to the DOE's latest letter by saying it included "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."

The DOE letter cited problems with student discipline, lack of an effective instruction plan and training for employees, and failing to ensure students' and employees' physical health.

MCA is holding a special called meeting 6 p.m. Monday. The regular board meeting will be 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Macon Charter Academy board to appoint permanent principal ."