Development authority advances $30M bond request for Kennesaw charter school

Jake Busch, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·3 min read

Apr. 22—CUMBERLAND — The Development Authority of Cobb County indicated its willingness this week to provide tax incentives to a public charter school in Kennesaw.

The bond inducement resolution — the first formal step toward a bond issuance and tax breaks — passed 6-0-1, with board member Karen Hallacy abstaining, at this week's development authority meeting.

Northwest Classical Academy, a state-commissioned charter school open to students from across the state, is asking the authority for $30 million in tax-exempt bonds, which would allow the school to purchase the 35-acre property it leases and pursue renovations and expansion.

The academy is located on the former site of Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy, which closed in 2020.

School representative Matthew Kirby said most of the money issued by the authority would be used to purchase the property, which is owned by Georgia Charter Schools Inc., according to the Cobb Board of Tax Assessors.

Georgia Charter Schools Inc. is a Cobb-based nonprofit, according to state records.

That purchase would be for about $17 million, added Andrew Egan, the attorney representing Kirby and the academy.

State Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, approached Kirby a few years ago about opening a school similar to Atlanta Classical Academy, the first school in Georgia affiliated with Hillsdale College's Barney Charter School Initiative.

Kirby said the school stresses "virtuous living, traditional learning and civic responsibility" through its liberal arts curriculum.

After opening for the 2021-22 school year with grades K-6, Northwest Classical Academy now has about 640 students in grades K-8, Kirby said. It will expand to grades K-9 next school year, with the aim of eventually expanding to 950 students across grades K-12. It currently has about a 1,200-student waitlist, he added.

The Hillsdale initiative is "devoted to the revitalization of public education through the launch and support of classical K-12 charter schools," according to its website.

Northwest Classical Academy has a majority-Cobb student population, Kirby said, in response to a question from development authority board member Jamala McFadden. He estimated that 75% of the school's students live in Cobb, despite it being open to all Georgia students.

Former Cobb Republican Party Chair Jason Shepherd, the newest member of the development authority's board, said he has two children in a charter school and expressed his support for the academy's request prior to the vote.

"It's great to see another project like this in Cobb County," Shepherd said, "with more charter schools coming in and the innovation that it really brings to the county in the hope that it will produce more leaders in this county as they progress through the school, go to college and hopefully come back and share the skills that they've learned."

The school's representatives will next return to the authority to request final approval of the bonds at one of its upcoming meetings, held at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce headquarters at 1100 Circle 75 Parkway.