The Fulton County School System will seek renewal of its charter system status, which gives school leadership ability to parents and principals.
The Fulton County Board of Education on Dec. 1 put approval of a renewal application on the consent agenda for its Dec. 10 meeting.
FCS is the largest charter system in Georgia, said Ryan Moore, executive director of strategy. The application materials are due at the state Department of Education this month.
“We are really excited that we are now to the point Thursday that we will be approving, I hope, our charter renewal application,” said board member Gail Dean. “It’s really historic that we are still the largest in the state that is a charter and it’s made such a difference for Fulton County Schools.”
“We have definitely learned more how to bring our parents along with us,” said board member Katie Reeves. She said without the collaboration in decision making the charter system would fail.
A lot more training must take place of parents and principals on the concept of shared leadership, she said.
“It’s actually not something that comes easily and it’s not something most people are actually trained in. Most of us want to hold on to the power that we have,” Reeves said. “So a shared leadership is a unique feature of our charter system and our charter system utterly fails without it.”
FCS became a charter system in 2012.