Riverwood Seeks Public Comment on Waivers From Charter Policy

Provided by Marla Shavin

Riverwood International Charter School’s governance council has prepared their Requests for Flexibility (RFF’s) and approved them for public comment. 

The RFF’s are the waivers from state and local policy that the school is seeking under the District's Charter System. The public comment period will end Dec. 8. Comments can be made in writing to Riverwood Governance Council, RFF Comments, 5900 Raider Drive, Sandy Springs, Ga 30328; through an online survey; or during a public forum from 4-5:30 p.m., Dec. 5, in the school media center.

Here’s a look at the issues:

RFF One: Waiver requesting the ability to have an English teacher instruct a reading course without a reading certification. There is an identified group of students who need intensive reading intervention, but High School teachers often do not carry this typically elementary-level certification. This exemption will enable us to support students.

RFF Two: Waiver requesting exemption for IB Diploma Candidates from the “physical science” graduation requirement. IB Diploma Candidates are engaged in other high-level, globally-minded sciences and often cannot fit a physical science course into their 4-year course of study. 

RFF Three: Waiver requesting flexibility for International Service Learning activities. Riverwood desires to broaden IB MYP and DP students’ learning from global context into global experience. Current FCS policy limits the amount a student can be asked to pay, stipulates a 3-month-prior request period, and stipulates a potential limitation on the number of trips in a given timeframe. Riverwood asks to be exempted from those policies.