Local charter school, Savannah Classical Academy (SCA) has been awarded over $100,000 in grants by the State of Georgia. SCA was awarded a Charter School Facilities Grant of $40,476.19 on June 13. This new grant is a result of the General Assembly’s amendment to the Charter School Act in 2017 which replaced the existing competitive grant program with the new facilities grant program.  The FY 2020 grant is the first appropriation to the 84 eligible charter schools in Georgia and is designed to make charter school facility funding more comparable to facility funding for traditional public schools in the state.  Charter schools eligible to receive a facilities grant are those that (1) submit an annual audit report (or will submit one for FY20) and (2) own or lease their own school building with a lease term of three years or longer.

In addition, the Governor of Georgia announced that SCA will receive $60,000 from the School Safety Grant Program to upgrade the school’s safety infrastructure when the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools (SCCPSS) releases these funds. Every school in the district is set to receive $30,000 from the School Safety Grant Program but SCA has qualified for two grants - one for its K- Grade 8 students and the second for the SCA High School.

“SCA’s faculty, board of directors, students and supporters, are all delighted that we met the criteria to receive these grants as we expand into a K-12 school for the 2019-20 school year and we thank the Governor and state legislators for approving these funds in the state budget,” said SCA Director Barry Lollis. “These funds will be dedicated to further improving student outcomes and safety as our school continues to grow and evolve, while remaining committed to provide every child at SCA with a classical and academically rigorous education.”