Amana West Facilities Update

COMPLAINT FILING CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT OF 1998

Update as of August 2, 2023: Last spring, we filed a complaint with Cobb County Superior Court to address ongoing challenges with Cobb County Government, in particular the Department of Transportation not approving our land disturbance permit for installing new modular classroom buildings to accommodate demand for our program and the addition of higher grades. Since our last update, we have added an experienced litigator to our legal team; and he has already emerged as a valuable asset. We now have a court date scheduled for September 12th; and as soon as the judge rules on our case, we will inform you—it may take weeks.

In tandem with the LDP track for the permanent modular classroom buildings, our partners at Girl Scouts are pursuing a permit for temporary classroom buildings (trailers). 

What all this means for our students and teachers is that we will continue to operate out of the same beautiful spaces as last year, albeit with a few upgrades, per the following classroom listing:

  • 2 Kindergarten classes in the Dodd cabins (same as last year)
  • 2 First grade classes in the Dodd cabins (smaller class size)
  • 2 First grade classes in Troop House (smaller class size)
  • 1 Second grade class in Daisy Hill cabin (same as last year)
  • 1 Second grade class in the Whippoorwill cabin (same as last year)
  • 1 Third grade class in the Ivy cabin
  • 1 Third grade class in the classroom below the dining hall
  • 2 Fourth grade classes in the Dodd Main building (same as last year’s 3rd grade classes)

These classroom assignments will remain in place until such time that we get the temporary classrooms greenlighted.

As we mentioned above – we were able to make several upgrades to campus over the summer. These include regraveling and rerolling the Pebblebrook loop and installing and repairing drainage to prevent erosion. We also built a pavilion to provide shelter during carpool. The floors in Ivy and Daisy (formerly Gypsy) Hill have been upgraded, and we have been able to provide larger offices and touchdown spaces for interventions teachers. We will also install a security shed near the parking lot for Officer Johnson in the coming weeks. 

While we were hoping to start the school year with a few new classrooms to accommodate our growth, our teachers and staff have worked hard to once again create welcoming learning spaces that bring our EL Education program to life. We are making progress with Cobb County, so stay tuned by visiting our facilities update webpage. In the meantime, we will continue to strive to provide your children with an exceptional educational experience!

Update as of May 1, 2023: Cobb County has removed blocks on the online LDP application thereby allowing our application to move forward. While we continue to make open records requests and must work towards solutions, we see this as an encouraging sign. 

Update as of 1:22 PM on Wednesday, February 22: Amana Academy’s complaint was filed with the Cobb County Superior Court.

UPDATE AS OF 5:40PM ON FEBRUARY 17: Amana received a request from Cobb County late Friday afternoon and shortly before Amana was preparing to file its lawsuit against Cobb County that Amana delay the filing to provide Cobb County a few additional days to review Amana’s complaint. Given the importance of working collaboratively in the future with Cobb County for the betterment of Cobb families and students, Amana agreed to delay the filing of the lawsuit until next week. Amana believes that Cobb County has held a mistaken view of Amana’s legal status as a public school. Cobb County’s careful review of the complaint presents the opportunity to resolve this matter without the need to resort to litigation.

However, Amana remains confident in its legal position and stands ready to file the lawsuit should Cobb County’s review not result in positive progress.

Amana Academy West Atlanta is seeking legal relief in response to Cobb County’s refusal to permit the school to install three modular classroom buildings necessary for Amana to continue to serve its students on its current campus. Cobb County’s refusal is based on its erroneous and unlawful treatment of Amana as a private developer rather than as a public school.