Press Releases

Leaders of a group of concerned citizens who have come together to bring a charter school to Ben Hill County have announced a new and enhanced name for the school. It will be called the Lucius H. Holsey Academy of Excellence, named in honor of a former slave who – with knowledge he gained from his master, one of the earliest professors at the University of Georgia – founded Paine College in Augusta. The founding board for Lucius H. Holsey Academy of Excellence has submitted a petition to the Georgia Charter Commission, which will review the group’s plan to establish a new, high performing public elementary charter school for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The following is an official statement from Georgia Charter Schools Association Chief Executive Officer Tony Roberts, Ph.D.

“While Gwinnett County Schools may deserve an “A” in many areas of their operations, they deserve an “F” for failing to offer school choice and charter schools to students and families. They deserve another “F” for attempting, by a lawsuit against the State of Georgia and its Charter School Commission, to close down a highly successful and diverse all-girls charter middle school in the county—Ivy Preparatory Academy.