Negotiations continued this week as parents and organizers of a proposed Odyssey charter school tried to address many of the Coweta County School System's questions.

Representatives from the Odyssey School and the Coweta County School System met yesterday to try and hammer out the issues that concern school officials. School system officials presented Odyssey School officials with a 30-page list of concerns that would have to be addressed before the school system's staff would recommend approval of the charter school to the Coweta County Board of Education.

The Charter Schools Act of 1998 cleared the way for charter schools to be organized in the state. The intent of the bill is to provide an alternative to public schools with parents making many of the decisions on how the school is run.

Odyssey officials met Monday night at Crossroads Baptist Church in Sharpsburg and listened as organizer Jan Buchwald told the 40 parents that opening the proposed school is getting closer.

The biggest hurdle the group faces in opening the school this school year is a facility, but Buchwald said that issue could be settled by July 15.

School officials are looking at letting the charter school use an existing facility, such as the old school at Madras, to house the proposed 100 students of the charter school.

If the school system offers a facility, Buchwald said the proposed budget of the charter school would be dramatically slashed. Buchwald said exact figures on starting up the school will not be known until the facility issue is addressed.

During Monday night's meeting, Odyssey School organizers elected an interim board to work with the school system on the concerns surrounding the charter school. Buchwald was elected president, while Tim Smith was elected vice president.

Smith emphasized that everyone must get involved for the school to be successful.

“Everything in this school will be run by parents,” he said.

If everything goes smoothly in negotiations with the school system, Buchwald said it's possible the school could open by the school system's Aug. 12 opening day.

If negotiations bog down and the charter school isn't recommended to the board by its August meeting, the school could possibly open in October, she said.

Buchwald added that a 100-student school serving grades K-8 would probably feature six classes and no extracurricular activities for the first year.

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