The State Board of Education, in an 8-2 vote on June 12, approved the Marietta City Schools (MCS) district as one of Georgia’s first charter school systems. The state board also approved charter system status for Decatur and Gainesville City schools.

“We’ve got some work ahead to plan and communicate what this means for our school district and how we plan to implement the ideas and innovations proposed in our petition,” said MCS Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck. “As a new model for public education in Georgia, charter system status strengthens our ability to continue the work set forth in our strategic plan.”

Among the tenets of Georgia’s year-old charter system law are maximizing local school governance in tandem with raising student achievement. “Marietta City Schools embraces both ideas, and we will continue to provide our students with a challenging, academically rigorous educational experience that is now strengthened by the additional flexibility in operations and programs granted by the petition approved today,” added Lembeck.

Among the many next steps towards implementing the charter system model at Marietta City Schools are the development of school governance bylaws, communication resources, orientation sessions for school governance teams and training. “These actions and activities are all part of our first-year implementation as outlined in our charter system petition,” said Preston Howard, Assistant Superintendent Operations and Policy Development.