A recommendation to renew the charter of Statesboro's only publicly funded charter school is on the agenda for the State Charter Schools Commission's meeting Wednesday in Atlanta.

Under its five-year renewal petition, the Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts and Technology would have a new name, becoming the Statesboro STEAM College, Careers, Arts and Technology Academy. This retains the initials CCAT, an often-used abbreviation of the school's current name, but adds STEAM for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.

But for now, CCAT's expressed desire to be taken under the Bulloch County Board of Education's wing with a county charter has met with neither a decisive "no" nor a "yes." So, the state charter remains a necessity for the school to keep its doors open.

"The way the charter process works, every charter school, whether they're new or a charter school already existing, has to submit the petition locally and to the state," said CCAT Director Corliss Reese. "The state laws give the local district the opportunity to take the charter school first, and if they don't, then you always have that opportunity to revert to the state."

Founded in 2002, CCAT has survived major shifts in the state's approach to authorizing and funding charter schools. In 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the previous granting of charters by a state Department of Education commission over local opposition had been unconstitutional.

But Georgia voters approved a state constitutional amendment in November 2012 reauthorizing a Charter Schools Commission. The commission, which granted Statesboro's CCAT a new charter in May 2013, limited the original charters to three years but now approves five-year renewals.

State-chartered schools are funded exclusively by the state and, with no access to local taxes, receive something approaching a double share of state funding. But charter schools authorized by local school districts receive state funds on the same per-student basis as regular public schools, as well as the corresponding share of local funding.

'The best option'

In early January, Reese sent the Bulloch County BOE a letter of intent "for renewal as a charter school," stating that CCAT would now do business under the STEAM name. In an expanded letter Feb. 9, Reese and CCAT Governing Board chair Dr. Tom Caiazzo stated that a five-year county charter was preferred.

"We believe that being a locally approved charter school is the best option for our school to remain a viable entity of academic service in Bulloch County," the letter states. "We welcome any and all leadership expertise to enhance the quality of services that we provide."

In the letter, Reese and Caiazzo also reported that CCAT's state funding allotment this year is $1,264,002. Of this, $681,820 is regular Quality Basic Education funding, the portion that would still be provided by the state if the school came under a local charter. But the state also supplies CCAT a $607,960 supplement, with a $25,778 administrative fee subtracted. If it received a county charter, it would lose the supplement.

For next year, Reese said in an interview, the total state funding is expected to rise to $1.4 million. Over $600,000 would have to be provided locally if the school converted to a county charter, said Bulloch County Schools Superintendent Charles Wilson.

Occupying a converted commercial building on Northside Drive, CCAT now has 160 students in grades 6 through 12 and a waiting list with 168 names on it, Reese said, but no space for more students. The school's leaders are looking for another building and also have stated hopes to add kindergarten through fifth grade back to the school.

Not a 'flat no'

When Wilson and Bulloch County BOE members talked about the request during their public meeting Thursday night, their answer was that they had not had enough time to consider all the implications.

"It's a great opportunity, a great discussion, in terms of how we serve kids and how the needs of these students are met, but a lot to sort through from January till now, and they really needed a decision now, in March, in relation to their discussions with the state," Wilson told board members.

To plan to take over the funding, and with CCAT considering expanding its services, "which would be an unknown to us," more time was needed, he said.

Some board members asked whether the charter school might get an extension from the state, but they did not make a motion or vote.

"It's a maybe. It's a 'no' for now, but given more time, it may be 'yes,' maybe not. We'll see," Wilson said later in a phone interview, noting that the answer had not been "a flat no" as in the past.

Because the petition is for a renewal instead of a first-time charter, CCAT does not need a definite local refusal for the state to act, Reese said in an interview Monday. A five-year state charter contract would not rule out transitioning to a local charter sooner, he said, because the State Charter Schools Commission is willing to work with schools in that situation.

Meanwhile, the agenda for the commission's meeting Wednesday was available online last week. Despite local rumors to the contrary, the agenda item notes that CCAT's charter is recommended for renewal. A charter school in Atlanta is on the agenda with a recommendation that its charter be denied.

"We are always very honest with the schools that in the event that they're not able to demonstrate that they're providing a better educational opportunity than the district, then they are at risk for nonrenewal," Bonnie Holliday, State Charter Schools Commission executive director, said in a phone interview Thursday.

But CCAT in Statesboro met the standards in all three areas the commission considers: operational and financial health and academic performance, she said.

"CCAT has not always been at the level where we would want them to be, but they have gotten there by the end of their charter term, and as a result, they warrant a renewal for another five years," she said.

Academic success is gauged by the state's College and Career Ready Performance Index, or CCRPI, which incorporates test scores and other factors.

Ahead on 'growth'

In 2013-14, the charter school's scores were generally lower than those of the regular Bulloch County Schools. But Reese and other CCAT leaders say that the school has a higher portion of at-risk and special education students than the county schools. The charter school has also added tutoring programs, including Math Made Simple, in an effort to improve.

The most recent CCRPI scores, from 2014-15, have yet to be made public by the Department of Education, after a delay associated with the new Georgia Milestones tests, and are expected to be released mid-April.

However, the commission received preliminary data from the department for use in evaluating CCAT's petition.

"What we saw was that the student growth at CCAT exceeded the typical student growth in Bulloch County," Holliday said.

Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.