Some local schools seek charter, others are not

GRADY COUNTY EDUCATORS gathered Tuesday for a webinar at the VanLandingham Center with state officials to discuss the charter school initiative. Teams of teachers and administrators representing all seven schools attended, but only the faculties of Cairo High School, Washington Middle School, Shiver Elementary School and Whigham Elementary School have voted to proceed with writing a charter for their respective schools. Votes cast by the faculties of Eastside, Northside and Southside Elementary Schools voted not to write charters at this time. Another webinar will be held next week to outline the process for applying for planning grants for the schools that have decided to write charters. “A lot of the information presented had been covered previously, but it provided us an outline and a starting point to begin the process. We’ve got work to do,” Grady County School Superintendent Dr. Tommy Pharis said. When questioned about the decision by the faculties of Eastside, Northside and Southside, Dr. Pharis said he understood the faculties of those schools were not “comfortable” with moving forward and “they should not invest the time required to write an acceptable charter until they are comfortable with the process. It’s a school decision.”