First charter school to open in Peach County

BYRON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Georgia State Charter School Association just approved the opening of Byron-Peach Charter High School. 

The board said this is a great opportunity for the community, but some Peach County Board of Education members aren’t too sure about that.

Roy Lewis, the chairman of the Byron-Peach Charter High School Board, believes this new school is giving parents a choice.

“We only have one high school in the county for everybody. You can home school or private school and this gives the parents who can’t afford private school an opportunity to do something else,” said Lewis. 

The school will open next fall and will only have 9th and 10th graders it’s first year. It will only have about 125 students and will be located a the old Byron Elementary School that has been closed for about 40 years. 

Byron Mayor Larry Collins said the community support has been tremendous and he’s excited to see the old school being brought back to life.

The Peach County Board of Education feels there are some things that still need to be worked out before they get on board.

“It’s not that we are against it. It’s just that we’re trying to see how is it going to work and how is it going to be a cohesive front in order to help push Peach County school district totally,” said Peach County Board of Education Chairman, Jamie Johnson.

Right now, some board members are not convinced there is a true focus for the charter school which wouldn’t make it any different from the existing high school. 

Officials from the charter school said there is a lot of work to be done, but with help from the community, they’ll be ready for students come next fall.

Charter school board members estimate about $400,000 to get the school up and running. They said they will work closely with the city and host a lot of fundraisers to get this money.