Faced With Possible Loss Of Charter School Status, Peachtree Hope Plans Rally

Peachtree Hope Charter School plans to rally at Monday's DeKalb County Board of Education meeting as the school, which is located in DeKalb's Parkview neighborhood, mounts its defense against a recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling that put its future and that of several other charter schools in the state in danger.

The state supreme court last month ruled the the law creating the Georgia Charter Schools Commission unconstitutional. The commission was formed to oversee the formations and public financing of state chartered schools.

In essence, the Georgia Supreme Court said the state did not have the authority to create elementary, middle and high schools. The state constitution, the court said, only gives that autorirty to local school boards.

With the Georgia Supreme Court's ruling, Peachtree Hope, which opened last fall and has 610 students, is left in limbo, as are 16 other state chartered schools.

The rally it organized is slated to take place before the 6 p.m. meeting of the DeKalb school board at the DeKalb County School System Administrative & Instructional Complex at 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd. in Stone Mountain.

Lonnie C. King Jr., Peachtree Hope's board president and veteran civil rights advocate, along with John Evans, president of the DeKalb County NAACP, are slated to be among the group of scheduled speakers at Monday's rally.

A second rally also is slated for June 13 at the Stone Mountain complex when the board will vote to determine if Peachtree Hope gets to keep its charter.