Seven DeKalb County Charter schools have won a prolonged legal battle against the DeKalb County School District (DCSD). On April 30, the Georgia Supreme Court denied DCSD’s request to hear the case, confirming the finality of the decision reached in favor of the charter schools by the superior court and appeals court. The DeKalb charters originally filed suit in August 2020 in Fulton County Superior Court seeking judgment and damages arising from DCSD’s failure to adequately fund the schools.
The Georgia Supreme Court’s denial follows an appellate court ruling unanimously reaffirming a summary judgment issued by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter. The summary judgment was handed down in October and favored all but one of the claims brought by DeKalb Agriculture Technology & Environment, DeKalb Preparatory Academy, Leadership Preparatory Academy, DeKalb PATH Academy, Tapestry Public Charter School, The GLOBE Academy, and The Museum School of Avondale Estates.
Judge Baxter found, as a matter of law, that the charter schools were entitled to recover damages on each of these claims, which involved underfunding by the DeKalb County School District. These claims include:
- Not providing the Charter School’s proportionate share of the state austerity funds restored in the state budget.
- Improperly withholding funds at the charter schools’ academic year midterm.
- Not providing the charter schools’ their proportionate share of federal funds, specifically for special needs students and teacher development.
- Improperly withholding 3% of the charter schools’ funding for an “administrative fee” without providing actual administrative services. The damages for each of these claims vary, but some, including the administrative fee, span 6 years. In total, the charter schools’ claims exceed $10 million in funding that the DeKalb County School District wrongfully withheld.
The case will now go back to Fulton County Superior Court to determine the amount of damages owed to the DeKalb charter Schools. With the interest that has accrued over the intervening years, the compensatory damages sought by the Charter Schools against DCSD are now estimated at approximately $15 million.
