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Parents, teachers, students calling for a Fulton County charter school's board to resign

The state will determine if the school will lose its contract, again, in June.

EAST POINT, Ga. — Teachers, parents and students are worried that a Fulton County charter school is in danger of closing. 

It comes after The RISE Charter Schools, in East Point, had its charter revoked by the school district last year after officials determined the school was not in compliance in multiple areas.

The State Charter Schools Commission approved RISE to operate under a state charter last May, but this year, on May 10, the state put the school on probation, "based on concerns regarding the governing board's ability to provide appropriate financial oversight."

Now, several parents and faculty are calling for the school's board to resign, saying the body is to blame for the troubles.

One parent, Carmen Jordan, enrolled a fourth grader at the school, but after Jordan said "she just did not excel academically this year," Jordan decided to withdraw her daughter.

"I don't think it's beneficial or in the best interest of the students to come to a school that they can't really learn and succeed from," Jordan said. "The staff and the faculty are amazing. They're exceptionally amazing. However, they don't have the support and they don't have the resources that they need to be able to support these children."

Dean of Students Dondrill McFarland said the uncertainty has become so bad that on May 20, staff decided they needed a break from the stress. 

"Thirty-five of us decided that we were going to take a mental health day," McFarland told 11Alive. "We needed it, to rest. Not for nothing -- to look for jobs, as well, because we don't know what the future holds."

In a statement to 11Alive, the State Charter Schools Commission explained the probation process it put the school on "permits the SCSC to actively monitor school operations to ensure the health, safety, or welfare of students and staff."

"SCSC staff continue to monitor developments at RISE to determine whether the school can meet its financial obligation for the 2024-2025 school year while providing a high-quality education to its students," the statement said.

But staff, and parents, are calling for more immediate action -- primarily that the board resigns. McFarland, the dean, said staff wrote the SCSC, citing several problems such as "insufficient resources, misuse of financial resources, lack of institutional knowledge, blatant disregard for the overall school community, and lack of transparency with staff and families."

"We would like to replace our incompetent board members with board members who can come in and do and get the job done," McFarland said.

Meanwhile, students like seventh-grader Salamata have noticed the impact of the school's precarious situation. 

"It makes me feel like we -- this school -- is not important," Salamata said.

Salamata said she's been attending the board meetings, but she's not ready to say good-bye.

"I'm not thinking about going nowhere else," Salamata said. "I'm thinking about this school and help[ing] save the school."

As far as the future of the school, a spokesperson for the SCSC said the school will remain in a probationary status until SCSC staff determines it is financially viable next school year. If the SCSC can't determine that by June 7, 2024, the commission said it will recommend early termination of the school’s charter contract.    

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