Friday, March 19, 2004
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Friday, March 19, 2004 |
| CEC charter renewed by state The Georgia Board of Education renewed the Central Educational Center’s charter at its meeting last week. The unanimous vote approved the document that structures and governs the academic goals for the school, which is Coweta County’s only charter school and was created four years ago through a partnership between the Coweta County School System, West Central Technical College and the Coweta County business community. The school serves 1,200 students based in Coweta’s three traditional high schools. “Today’s vote builds on the vote taken last November 11 by our local board of education to approve this charter, and on the work of the CEC Board of Directors and administration for more than a year to improve the charter and better position CEC to meet its mission of ensuring a viable workforce for the 21st Century,” said Russ Moore, CEO of the Central Educational Center. Last Wednesday, state school Superintendent Kathy Cox met with Moore and CEC charter committee Chairman Mark Whitlock. “I have watched CEC grow from an idea to one of Georgia’s largest charter schools, serving more than 1,200 students a year,” said Cox, who added that CEC is going to participate in and be featured by a regional summit that the U.S. Department of Education is holding in Atlanta this month, when a large delegation of federal officials and state officials and educators will visit CEC. Cox nominated CEC to be a national Model High School, and said that CEC is a model school for Georgia and the nation. “CEC is really doing a great job,” she Cox said, “and we’ll be talking about them in depth” at the upcoming the USDE high school summit. At Thursday’s Board meeting, State Board of Education member Peggy Nielson said that she has brought a group of 50 educators and leaders from Dougherty County to CEC, and her community is using the CEC model to develop a new school there. CEC initiatives in Rockdale and Floyd counties were also mentioned. Dozens of Georgia communities have visited CEC, and CEC representatives are also visiting and advising other counties. A CEC team visited Dalton and Whitfield County recently, and CEO Moore is making a presentation at the Newton County Board of Education retreat March 20. Moore said the board’s comments at Thursday’s meeting in Atlanta “were a double honor.” “Traditionally, to save time and move through routine business quicker, the State Board places charter school renewals and other action items together on a consent agenda that is later approved in a single vote without discussion,” Moore said. “CEC’s charter renewal was eligible for today’s consent agenda, but at yesterday’s committee of the whole meeting, the board chose to place CEC on the regular agenda in order for board members and Superintendent Cox to make comments on the record prior to a vote. This action and the comments by the board and Superintendent are a measure of the high regard in which CEC is held at the state level.” Moore thanked many of those who have worked to create and sustain CEC as a charter school, including Whitlock and CEC’s charter board, school board Chairman Rick Melville and school board members, West Central Technical College President Janet Ayers and West Central Board members, The Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Joe Harless and members of the steering committee who created CEC's charter four years ago, and the many business partners who have supported and who actively participate in CEC today. The new charter takes effect July 1 and runs through June 30, 2009. Mark Whitlock wrote the revised charter while still serving as CEC’s CEO, and the CEC board appointed a committee to review and finalize the charter last spring. The new charter differs from the old in that it “has more appropriate performance goals,” said Moore. “There is more emphasis on results that our partners specified, such as county-wide increases in the number of dual-seal diplomas and students in work-based learning, and a higher percentage of students in dual-enrollment programs with West Central Technical College. CEC’s original charter was written over a three-year period by the school’s original steering committee, chaired by Dr. Joe Harless, and was premised on a need to improve workforce development for Coweta County businesses and career training for high school students. Dr. Harless and the board conducted a series of needs assessment surveys of local industries to determine the concerns and needs of local industries in order to create Central’s unique approach and curriculum. Central is in its fourth year of operation.
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