Tybee Island’s only school sent parents a reassuring message on August 24, 2026. That same day, a Savannah-Chatham County Public School System document had already priced out a multimillion dollar campaign for a building the school’s foundation bought more than a month earlier.
Tybee Island Maritime Academy Executive Director Peter Ulrich told families in a Smore newsletter dated Aug. 24 that “no decision about the future of TIMA has been made.” He pointed parents to a Sept. 14, 2026 Governing Board meeting for more information.
No decision about the future of TIMA has been made.
A Savannah-Chatham County Public School System fundraising feasibility document bearing the same date told a more specific story. “The fundraising data aligns with a campaign in the $5 to $8 million range for Thunderbolt rather than a $30 million effort,” the slides state. The materials sketch a timeline running from March 2026 through school board meetings in September, with a target completion around October 2029, according to the document. Watchdog Citizen has not independently verified the slides’ authorship or internal metadata beyond the date stamp on the document.
The fundraising data aligns with a campaign in the $5 to $8 million range for Thunderbolt rather than a $30 million effort.
A purchase already made
The Thunderbolt property is not hypothetical. The Foundation for Maritime Education completed a $1,375,000 purchase of the former Thunderbolt Elementary building at 3313 Louis St. on July 13, 2026, according to WTOC, which reported that TIMA’s Governing Board had approved the deal at its June 2026 meeting. The property spans 5.99 acres with a building of roughly 5,880 to 7,841 square feet, WTOC and property records show. A LoopNet listing describes the zoning as R1 residential, a classification Watchdog Citizen has not verified against Chatham County records.
Ulrich told WTOC after the purchase closed that it “does not signal a departure from Tybee Island,” saying he remained engaged with the City of Tybee and continued planning around Memorial Park as a possible on-island site.
That backup plan dates to December 2025, when the SCCPSS board approved a purchase agreement for Thunderbolt with a 150-day due diligence period. Ulrich told WSAV at the time that the “biggest challenge is funding” for any capital campaign.
Memorial Park pushback
The City of Tybee had explored Memorial Park as a location for a new or expanded TIMA campus, but residents pushed back over the loss of green space, savannahnow.com reported in September 2025. The Tybee City Council passed Resolution 2025-11 addressing the Memorial Park and TIMA question, according to city records.
TIMA is a K-8 public charter and the only STEAM-certified K-8 school in Georgia, serving roughly 432 to 434 students with a waitlist exceeding 200, savannahnow.com reported in May 2025. It is the only school remaining on Tybee Island; every other public and private school there closed by 2010, per the same report. TIMA’s lease with Saint Michael’s Church expires in 2028. Ulrich has led the school since 2019; Marie Gooding chairs the board.
Board ties and money questions
TIMA’s board listing names members with outside affiliations including Leon Davenport of Thunderbolt Consultants LLC, David Haverstick of AIMA Inc., Frank Peluso and Rob Weisel of SCAD, Alan Robertson of AWR Strategic Consulting, Erin Piedmont of Georgia Southern, Trey Thompson of the Savannah Pilots Association, and Lauren Tignor of Tignor Law Firm. The school’s CFO function is contracted through Vertex Education, according to the same listing. Those roles and companies appear self-reported.
Robertson has previously voiced wariness about the school expanding without public input, telling savannahnow.com in May 2025 that he did not want to see the “demons of the past” repeated.
Parents organize, questions spread online
TIMA has no PTO or PTA, according to the school’s own Gifts/Donations and Fundraising policy document. A parent-led PTA effort appears to be forming; domain records show timapta.org has been registered.
A Facebook group called “Tybee Island Georgia” carried a post asking, “Is TIMA moving to Thunderbolt, GA or expanding to a second school?!” TIMA’s own Facebook page asked parents to submit questions and suggestions about the school’s future location by Aug. 17. Savannah realtor Jenny Rutherford posted a “What’s next for TIMA?” video that drew roughly 9,900 views and about 30 reactions, according to the platform.
A Google Doc petition titled “We Need a Commitment to Keep TIMA on Tybee!” lists 11 signatories, including names matching Ulrich and Robertson, according to the document. The identities behind those signatures have not been independently verified.
TIMA’s Governing Board is scheduled to meet Sept. 14, 2026, the next public moment for a community caught between a school leader’s promise that nothing is settled and a district document that already has a price tag attached.