APS and Fulton reach pact on poaching student case involving Riverwood high. Awaiting judge’s approval
Thanks to a Get School poster who sent me a note today that the case of the poaching school had been resolved. Back in the spring, Atlanta Public Schools filed suit in Fulton County Superior Court seeking to stop Riverwood International Charter School — a Fulton high school that sits in Sandy Springs just over Atlanta’s northern boundary — from recruiting city students.
The issue in contention was funding since the APS students who moved to Riverwood brought along their funding. In its lawsuit, Atlanta alleged that Riverwood was recruiting and enrolling students from Sutton Middle School and North Atlanta High School, which it maintains violated state law. (Here is one of my first posts on this story for deeper background.)
The tip led to this new AJC story:
Atlanta and Fulton County have tentatively reached agreement to end what Atlanta officials said was the systematic recruitment of students away from city schools.
The agreement comes in response to a lawsuit filed this spring by the city system over a Fulton high school’s enrollment of students who otherwise lived within Atlanta’s boundaries. At stake: State funding that follows students when they move from one public school to another.
It would allow about 100 Atlanta students currently enrolled at Riverwood International Charter School to stay and complete their education, spokespeople from both systems said. But it would bar new enrollment by city students unless the two systems reach a formal arrangement.
The agreement must be approved by Fulton Superior Court Judge Michael D. Johnson.
Riverwood, which has about 1,400 students, is a conversion charter school, which means it operates under the purview of the Fulton school system but with greater freedom from the rules.
The school’s charter agreement allows the school to accept out-of-district students on a cost reimbursement basis. That means it can charge tuition to make up for costs that otherwise would be paid for with local tax dollars. Riverwood is charging some Atlanta students $8,000 a year in tuition.
The Atlanta system filed suit in May. The suit followed a ruling in April by the Georgia Department of Education, which said Fulton needed to have a memorandum of understanding with the city school system in order for Riverwood to enroll Atlanta students. The two systems have no agreement now.
Fulton officials have said the school has not enrolled any Atlanta students since receiving the Education Department’s letter in April.
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95 comments Add your comment
It's not the money
July 28th, 2010
3:21 pm
Maureen was put on notice that if she dared to follow up on the front page AJC Ron Clark story with the tired old argument that it’s only effective because of the money, it would be pointed out how Ron Clark supports the primacy of the teacher as adult authority figure, as evidenced by a quote from a student that students weren’t even allow to talk the first two weeks unless it was in small group or directed to do so by the teacher.
This administrative support of teachers is a major reason why Ron Clark works and the public schools that spend huge amounts of money per child still don’t work.
It’s no surprise then, once Maureen was put on notice that the discipline component Ron Clark offers would be front and center, despite her efforts to trot out the money argument, Maureen took a pass on the story, even though it was on the front page of her very own paper.
Shill baby shill
July 28th, 2010
3:27 pm
I’m still waiting for the Downey column pushing for Brad Bryant to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Freedom.
New Blood Needed
July 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
Kira Willis firmly stands on a platform that includes the school choice plank. Unless other candidates have recently taken her ideas for their own, she is the only candidate for State School Superintendent at this time who is an advocate for families to have school choice. Read more on her website below.
Kira Willis for State Superintendent! The people will speak! New blood needed!
http://www.willisforstatesuper.com
New Blood Needed
July 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
http://www.willisforstatesuper.com
another mom
July 28th, 2010
6:32 pm
Riverwood knew what they were doing was illegal and that they would lose, but they went ahead and “accepted” incoming freshmen. If you’re going to be mad, point your anger at Riverwood for misleading all of those families.
Disgusted Mom
July 28th, 2010
6:55 pm
Does anyone know anything about North Springs? I didn’t realize it was a charter school and took kids out of district.
Understanding
July 28th, 2010
6:55 pm
I understand that it is 31 students that will be affected this year from the court ruling, 22 of those from North Atlanta, of which only 11 currently attend Sutton Middle School. The others currently attending private school.
BTW
July 28th, 2010
9:33 pm
Just for the record, Kira Willis’ husband is an asst. principal at North Springs.
@ disgusted mom
July 28th, 2010
9:36 pm
I imagine North Springs will soon face the same barriers that Riverwood faces today. But then again, as long as NS isn’t “poaching” APS students (not sure), maybe not.
SWF Seeking Bliss Through Information Not Ignorance
July 28th, 2010
10:03 pm
Dear “cobb mother” – For many reasons, one being, I believe silence is acceptance – I am compelled to post-
Your use of the word “ghetto” is racist. In fact, statements made elsewhere in your post are racist. Racist and ignorant. Now that is, “Pure and simple” Ma’am. You have to know that?! (Why qualify it? Justify it? with the declaration, “I’m not racist.”) This use of the term “ghetto”, as used by you, used by a great number of individuals often and casually, thru out our nation, accepted everywhere- unchecked, needs to be officially deemed “racist” so we can end its unhindered infiltration of our language. It is my hope, by posting this, that less individuals will use it and more individuals will not allow its use.
July 28th, 2010
1:46 pm
“cobb mother” writes: … “… I didn’t want her to be at Campbell … is the Ghetto factor”.
I am not a racist.
It is plain and simple.
When your child goes to the freshman dance and they only play vulgar rap music at a school function, you have all the proof in the world why the school did not meet AYP.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
What information, data, etc. are you using here, to make this statement, SuperFreakonomics? Did the vulgar rap music playing freshman dance last all school year? … Therefore the students, that attended the school year long freshman dance in which vulgar rap music was played received no academic instruction and because of this, these students failed to make academic gains – and due to this – Campbell High School, not surprisingly to you, did not make AYP for the SY 09-10.
Atlanta mom
July 28th, 2010
10:16 pm
It’s not the money
So, why do they need to spend $40,000 (really?), if all that is needed is “primacy of the teacher”?
Why do they need more than the $12,000 that APS spends? In fact, in “primacy of the teacher” is all that is needed, both Ron Clark and private schools should need a lot less–right?
Atlanta mom
July 28th, 2010
10:19 pm
@another mom.
Not only did Riverwood know what it was doing was illegal, so did those Buckhead parents.
It's not the money
July 28th, 2010
10:28 pm
“Why do they need more than the $12,000 that APS spends? In fact, in “primacy of the teacher” is all that is needed, both Ron Clark and private schools should need a lot less–right?”
They do need a lot less, Atlanta mom, it’s just that their success attracts the money. Ron Clark didn’t become successful because of Oprah; Oprah donated to Ron Clark because he was successful. The Oprah money just allows the Clark students the opportunity to do the bells and whistles stuff.
Is it any coincidence that Atlanta, which has the worst reputation for dealing with discipline, spend the most per student and has the least to show for it?
Atlanta mom
July 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
Help me out here “its not the money”. How much does Ron Clark spend per student?
It is all about the $$$
July 28th, 2010
11:13 pm
APS is showing what they care about and it is not the children. Just look at the lawsuit against Ivy Prep. How many APS students attend Ivy Prep? ONE.
APS has a plantation mentality and the children who are unable to receive a high quality education are chained to their zoned school, good or bad and by looking at the recent CRCT scores in APS, it is bad! The children in APS might as well call Dr. Hall ‘master’.
Cere
July 28th, 2010
11:41 pm
DeKalb County Schools took in $599,621 in tuition fees in the general fund and $115,282 in tuition under the heading “Special Revenue” for FY 2007-08 according to the FY2010 Approved Budget Book available online.
BTW – we had a great post on the Ron Clark school at the DeKalbSchoolWatch blog – this CNN reports states that the tuition at the school is about $18,000/year.
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2009/10/ron-clark-phenomena.html
Larry Major
July 29th, 2010
7:11 am
Ron Clark Academy is a private school that spends $18,000 a year on 100 kids that *they* hand pick. From their web page:
“If a child has identified disabilities and/or may be under a current IEP, he/she may not be considered for admission due to the school’s limited resources in meeting that child’s specific needs.”
Same deal with discipline. Parents are *required* to sign a contract concerning discipline and attendance. In case you can’t read into this, their discipline management amounts to a careful screening process to avoid having any problems to handle and, in the unlikely event that fails, they can simply throw their mistake back into the public school system.
Since none of this can be duplicated in anything except another private school, I fail to see what RCA has to do with public education.
Color me confused
July 29th, 2010
7:33 am
DeKalb’s tuition revenue is related to special ed students from nearby systems that are accommodated though memorandums of understanding. These students are from smaller systems and have very specific needs, like psycho-ed and their own school systems are paying DCSS to meet those needs in DeKalb’s centers.
Special education costs a lot, that might be less than a 100 students!
Disgusted Mom
July 29th, 2010
7:40 am
By the way, I did not know about the APS lawsuit until a friend of my son’s told me about it a couple of months ago-was never notified by anyone or had heard about it, so did not know it was ILLEGAL. I then notified Riverwood and asked an employee if my son would be affected by this and was told no, he should be fine. So some of the employees didn’t even know what was going to happen. As far as North Springs, are there any parents out there who have or had kids there and can tell me about it?
An advocate for public education change & choice
July 29th, 2010
8:15 am
@ Digusted Mom: The lawsuit was originally filed by Gwinnett County (as Ivy operates within their district). APS joined the suit figuring they could potentially benifit. To my knowledge APS has the highest number of start-up charter schools of any local system in the metro area and there is a steady stream of applicants every year. Trust they had a vested interest in the outcome of the case.
Attentive Parent
July 29th, 2010
8:23 am
Advocate-
Please look at the link above to an APS charter agreement and then explain how that level of prescription is consistent with anyone’s concept of a charter school.
Attentive Parent
July 29th, 2010
8:24 am
It’s in my comment from yesterday at 1:45.
Legal vs ethical
July 29th, 2010
8:25 am
With all the talk of illegal, I looked searched the words “out of district tuition GA code” Here’s what I found:
“However, a local school system is authorized to charge nonresident students tuition or fees or a combination thereof; provided, however, that such charges to a student shall not exceed the average locally financed per student cost…A local school system is further authorized to contract with a nonresident student’s system of residence for payment of tuition.” under 20-2-133. Isn’t this just what Riverwood did? Was it illegal only because APS refused to sign the contract to release their kids to go to other schools? So can we send our kids to good schools in other districts, but only if our district gives us persmission to be responsible parents? Other posters say different counties do accept tuition kids and it seems APS does too according to their website. So APS will take in kids, but refuses to let them leave? Am I missing something?
Reality 2
July 29th, 2010
9:47 am
@ Legal,
I don’t think any school district is forced to contract with another district. The way I read the GA code is that Riverwood can charge parents tuition and keep those students. However, they cannot pretend that they are a public school for APS students and suck money from the APS without an agreement from the APS.
Atlanta mom
July 29th, 2010
11:52 am
@disgusted Mom
Did you think you could go to any public school you wanted? You’ve never heard of school districts?
@ Atlanta mom
July 29th, 2010
12:44 pm
Actually, the long, hard, mostly Republican push for “school choice” in the last decade or so–combined with the NCLB mandate that failing schools allow their students to choose other schools–actually *does* indicate that you can attend any school you want.
@ Legal vs ethical
July 29th, 2010
12:58 pm
You’re not missing anything. The tuition reimbursement is nothing new, and lots of counties do it. Those parents’ taxes still go into the district coffers whether their student goes to the district school or not. If you are in a Fulton county district and attend a charter school in Fulton that is not your district school, no tuition is required. You already pay into FC school system, and schools are funded based on the number of students attending. If you live in Fulton and go to a charter in another county, then you pay tuition.
APS is its own school system and behaves much like a county. Here is a Q&A about how to attend and APS school if you are not living in their district:
“If I currently live in another school district, am I eligible to apply for a general administrative transfer to an
Atlanta Public School?
“The Atlanta Public Schools welcome all parents who would like to submit an application for a general
administrative transfer. If your application is approved, the parent or legal guardian will be required to pay
tuition. The Atlanta Board of Education sets the tuition rate each year based on the cost to educate a child in the Atlanta Public Schools. The per pupil tuition rates for 2009-2010 school year are:
Regular Education $10,440
Special Education $10,440 plus costs for additional services based on individual needs
Evening High School $700 per class (Non‐resident), $140 per class (Resident over age 21), Free (Resident aged 16‐21)”
You can find this info at: http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/18611051103459947/lib/18611051103459947/_files/Frequently_Asked_Questions_2010_4-19-2010.pdf
@ Legal vs ethical
July 29th, 2010
12:59 pm
filter…
Angela
July 29th, 2010
2:10 pm
Okay, am I to understand that parents of North Atlanta High are upset at the fact that their children cannot attend Riverwood High even though they were accepted prior to the ruling?
Well, my daughter is a 1999 graduate of North Atlanta High school and I could see the change coming about. I was not pleased with much of what I saw in the attendance change (although, there was not a significant behavior issue then). I do not want to make this a race issue (I am a 54 years old Black mother) however, when my daughter was there beginning in 1995 there was more of a diverse student attendance. However, as the years moved forward it begin to change. I sent my daughter to E. River, Sutton and of course she fed into North Atlanta. I sent her to those schools with the idea of learning to communicate and live with all people in the world not just those of her same race and culture (and, of course to obtain a positive education). However, things begin to change and I must say that I am grateful that she graduated when she did.
There has been a district change in APS which has moved students who would not ordinarally consider or want to attend North Atlanta but have been forced to attend. The changes being made has made for a different type of learning environment for not only the community but for those forced to attend.
I am all for intergration however, this form of intergration has forced a community to seek better learning conditions, a more cuth(sp) student body, and even students who just clearly come to school to learn. I can say this because my daughter has a neice that attended and I clearly know the environment that she came from and her environment brought others from her community and surrounding communities to North Atlanta High School.
Does this sound racist yes, but it is the FACTS. I hope that all of the parents who had children that were accepted to Riverwood are able to attend the same way that my daughter was able to attend outside of her school district. I do not feel that no parent should be forced to pay just because they live outside of a school district. The only thing that they should be required to do is make sure that their child gets to school daily, on time and has a positive learning environment and experience.
FYI – My daughter was able to attend NAH because I merely wrote a letter stating that I worked in the area and that it was in the best interest of my daughter getting to school. (however, today I would add a bit more to the reasoning).
An advocate for public education change & choice
July 29th, 2010
2:26 pm
@ Attentive Parent – Not certain what you’re pointing me to examine need clarification. Purhaps also my last point was not clear. So I’ll restate by saying APS joined the suit againet Ivy Prep in GPS not because they were hurt by Ivy Prep but because they could stand to benifit if the case was won by GPS. They too like GPS were looking for legal ground to justify withholding as much money from the charter schools operating within its justisiction as possible (and they have more than most).
An advocate for public education change & choice
July 29th, 2010
2:30 pm
@ Attentive Parent: I guess i should read more and I would have seen your second comment huh?
Nevertheless the link you pointed me to, was the charter document for one of the K-5 charters operating in APS. I would have to compare what’s in place for the other institutions before I could stand solid on how much uniformity exists between them as driven by APS. Although it would not shock to discover your point is 100% dead on.
Attentive Parent
July 29th, 2010
3:10 pm
I find that document to be fascinating.
How you must teach with the constructivist philosophy which they define.
You must teach reading using only certain named materials that are the well known current iteration of whole language and then they describe what they consider to be Balanced Literacy. It’s a definition the Goodmans would applaud.
The document tells you what the APS priorities are and how the inquiry oriented, whole classroom activity approach must predominate.
I have done some work on what constitutes effective instruction under the IDEA for students with learning issues. Almost all of that research also refers to the type of instruction at risk kids need as well. Much of it explains why.
Surprise. It’s 180 degrees from what APS is mandating. That’s why I find the CRCT scandal and the math and science learning tasks APS wrote and advocates for so strenuously in the state’s Instructional Frameworks to be so interesting.
It’s why I find their dogged pursuit of these Riverwood students to be fascinating and not surprising. They need the cultural and intellectual capital these kids picked up at home to obscure the inevitable consequences of APS curricular choices.
An advocate for public education change & choice
July 29th, 2010
3:39 pm
@Legal vs Ethical: Short answer to your question is yes, GA law prescribes a means to offer parents a greater degree of choice within the public school landscape across district lines. However that catch is just what you described, the local systems simply chose not to allow it to happen.
To advance your thought, I guess the real fight is at the local board level not necessarily at the state level. This means those parents who want real choice need to raise their level of effective advocacy in order to hold local boards more accountable to their will.
APS budgets a lot of money per child
July 29th, 2010
3:44 pm
“It’s not the money”–check your facts, the actual APS spend per student should be $15,000 if you look at the system’s budget and the number of students. Wow, that’s kinda approaching Ron Clark academy…
Now, given that at a lot of that APS money is “free money” as Buckhead parents enroll their kids in private schools, but still get the “privilege” of contributing their taz $ to APS, APS really gets a free ride. If APS had to “earn as it goes”, especially w/ actual stuident performance, it would be shut down tomorrow.
Legal vs ethical
July 29th, 2010
8:53 pm
so @ Reality 2, I see your point. But 1) the parents are paying both the Atlanta city taxes and the taxes to Fulton county and 2) Atlanta school system does not have to spend money to educate the kids (don’t have to hire teachers, etc., to perform the job) how is Riverwood sucking money out of Atlanta? I don’t mean to be obtuse, but this seems to be a money maker for Atlanta. Why in the world would they complain that they get to keep parents’ taxes when they don’t have to pay to educate the students? This doesn’t make sense to me.
Angela
July 29th, 2010
10:20 pm
People please help me to understand why this blog particpants keep dogging Ron Clark? Leave that man alone. He seemingly (I say seemingly because I have not visited his academy) has a wonderful program PLEASE let him have it. It almost sound racial that he keeps being dogged. Are you all angry because of the students he allows to attend or what?
Children First
July 30th, 2010
8:37 am
Ron Clark spoke at Riverwood last year and really praised the school on many fronts.
Lazy Parents
August 4th, 2010
12:32 am
To you parents who want a good school- do like the rest of us do who want a good school- get in there and work to make it better. Until the parents in buckhead send their kids to NA and spend their time in North Atlanta it will not change. For the parents who are upset about not being able to attend riverwood its not that hard- JUST MOVE!
Parent of Riverwood
August 4th, 2010
12:28 pm
It is sad that the few (Usually about 10 per year) North Atlanta students who were accepted at Riverwood will now enroll in private schools and are still refusing to attend North Atlanta. What will it take to change their minds about North Atlanta?
Ex-Riverwood, now NA parent
August 7th, 2010
12:07 am
Alright, already! Let’s talk about something fun.
The big news around Buckhead is that North Atlanta has snagged Gip Johnston, a long time All-Stars coach at Buckhead Baseball. As a former Riverwood parent who has gladly ‘come back home’ to North Atlanta…I’ll guarantee you, you won’t find a better coach! If you want to deal with Santoro and McEwen at Riverwood, have at it. Gip Johnson is way over their heads!
Riverwood Parent
August 10th, 2010
9:42 pm
@Ex-Riverwood, now NA parent. It looks like you were forced to go back to NA…Make the best of it. Riverwood is about education…not basketball…by the way…Riverwoods basketball teams are incredible.
kathy jones
August 24th, 2010
2:20 am
I live in N.A. district and have a child at Riverwood. No one from Riverwood ever recruited my child. My son did NOT want to attend North Atlanta. We would have NEVER considered sending him there. He wanted to attend Riverwood and he loves it. We recruited Riverwood. We went to the school and were very impressed. We also visited North Atlanta and were horrified.
The school is not representative of the neighborhood. We have heard horror stories about the school.
Had he not been able to attend Riverwood, he would have absolutely attended a private school which is what he did through 8th grade. Although we’re in the Jackson and Sutton school districts, those schools were also never an option for us.
North Atlanta was never an option, ever, in any way. It is appalling to think they could be so arrogant as to think people would want to attend their school just because they are in the district. I am disgusted that City of Atlanta is getting my tax dollars. If they want to attract students, they need to improve the schools and not blame Fulton County. I’m sure that most of the students who go out of district would choose private schools before they would send their child to North Atlanta. What a joke!!!!!
northatlantastudent
September 18th, 2010
1:20 am
as a student of North Atlanta i would like to say the North Atlanta is a great school with an amazing IB program which is not offered to many private school kids and i know plenty of kids who have gone to north atlanta after Riverwood and like North Atlanta better.
Maggie
September 19th, 2010
12:36 am
Almost all the horror stories told about NAHS are not true. They are made up (lots of times by RICHS students) or from years ago. They not true. (oh and NAHS beat RICHS at football)
Maggie
September 19th, 2010
12:38 am
They are not true is what I meant to say.