Strategic Waivers School System/IE2

The State Board of Education unanimously approved Glynn County’s Strategic Waivers School System/IE2 (SWSS/IE2) contract at its regular monthly meeting held Thursday, Aug. 20 in Atlanta.

Local school districts that operate under the terms of an SWSS/IE2 contract with the State Board of Education receive flexibility in the form of waivers of certain state laws, rules and guidelines in exchange for greater accountability for increased student performance.  This district flexibility option was created by House Bill 1209, which provided "increased flexibility for local school systems" when it passed in 2008. Originally, school districts that choose this option were known as IE2, or Investing in Educational Excellence Systems. Now they are known as Strategic Waivers School Systems (SWSS/IE2).

“We’re excited about the State Board’s approval of our Strategic Waivers contract because ultimately it will help us to better serve our students,” said Former Glynn County Schools Superintendent Howard Mann.  “With the flexibility granted by the contract, we’ll be able to tailor our curriculum, programs and services to meet the needs of Glynn County students, rather than having these things dictated to us from Atlanta.”

Mann said that the Glynn County Board of Education and district staff monitored the accountability program closely as numerous changes were made at the state level in the years leading up to the June 30, 2015 deadline for local systems to select an accountability model.  The state’s original five options were narrowed to three – Status Quo, Charter System or Strategic Waivers/IE2.  Mann said that the SWSS/IE2 option aligned better with the district’s strategic plan, organization of schools and governance philosophies.

“After carefully analyzing each option and gathering feedback from the community over the past two years, we determined that the Strategic Waivers/IE2 model was the best choice for Glynn County,” Mann said.  “With graduation rates and test scores steadily improving, and students successfully transitioning into higher education and the workforce after graduation, there are a lot of positive things going on in Glynn County.  We expect that these trends will continue to improve under our new contract with the state as we have the flexibility to target and address issues that are unique to our community.”

Glynn County’s SWSS/IE2 flexibility began retroactively on July 1, 2015 and will run through June 2022.  The contract requires the Glynn County School System to improve baseline CCRPI scores by three percent annually at each Glynn County school.  Schools developed strategic plans that align with the district strategic plan to promote attainment of school and district improvement goals.

Posted February 26, 2015

The Glynn County School System is seeking input from parents, employees and community members during the process of selecting the appropriate School System Operating Model and Flexibility Options as required by Georgia law. 

School System Operating Models and Flexibility Options refer to the state law that requires all school systems in Georgia to select one of three "flexibility options" by June 30, 2015.  These operating models and flexibility options are:

• Investing in Educational Excellence System, also know as IE2;
• Charter System; and
• Status Quo System.

Both IE2 and the Charter System offer school district flexibility from certain state rules and regulations in exchange for greater accountability.  Local school systems are encouraged to seek waivers from Title 20 statutes, which will enable districts to exercise flexibility in educational innovation and in the reallocation of resources to increase student achievement.  These flexibility options will be linked to district and school-level decision-making and governance.

In deciding the appropriate System Operating Model, it is imperative that the model aligns with both the GCSS district strategic plan and the district's AdvancED/SACS accreditation review.  The model must support district vertical alignment in key areas including the GCSS district strategic plan and school improvement status, advanced/SACS accreditation, the Georgia Department of Education Teacher and Leader Evaluation Platform (TKES and LKES), the GSBA Quality Board Recognition program and the superintendent's annual evaluation by the Glynn County Board of Education.

Please use the subpage links in the left-hand column to learn more about this important initiative.  This site has been designed to keep you informed as we move through this process. Your active engagement is welcomed and encouraged!