Clayton County School Board to Name New Superintendent

The Clayton County school board is expected to officially name the district's new superintendent Monday. The board is scheduled to vote on whether to appoint Edmond Heatley the leader of the 48,000-student district in Atlanta's southern suburbs during a specially called meeting. Heatley was named the only finalist from a pool of 60 candidates two weeks ago, but state law requires that the board wait 14 days to vote on his appointment.

Heatley is a retired Marine and superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District in California. The Clayton district just won back accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools after nine months
without it.

(Associated Press)

Clayton County Still Fighting for Accreditation

2,300 Clayton County seniors are set to graduate in May. Meanwhile, the school district is still fighting to win back its accreditation.

The Clayton County school district was the first to lose its certification with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools last year. This district is one of the largest in the state.

Since then a new school board has been put in place. Policies have been revamped and they are searching for a new superintendent.

The accreditation agency blames the district’s problems on a “fatally flawed” school board. They have been accused of bickering and harassing school employees.

All nine board members either resigned or were ousted last year.

(AP)

New Regulations Possible for Local School Boards

Georgia lawmakers are looking at overhauling how the state regulates school boards. The move comes in the wake of Clayton County school district losing accreditation last year. The bill would give the governor the power to remove misbehaving school board members, limit how many members a board can have and require training. Local school boards have opposed the legislation, saying it unfairly targets them because it doesn't include city councils and county commissions.

(Associated Press)

Two Sex Ed. Programs Up For Vote In Clarke County

The Clarke County school board is expected to vote tonight on whether to adopt two new sex education programs. The material includes information about birth control and contraception to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases. The school board voted more than a year ago to do away with the long-standing policy of abstinence-only sex education. School officials say abstinence still would be taught as a proven method of avoiding pregnancy and disease. Clarke County's teen pregnancy rate is among Georgia's highest - 1 out of every 3 girls becoming pregnant before age 20.

(Associated Press)

Commission wants to influence local school boards

The Commission on School Board Excellence wants more state involvement in local school boards. The commission was made up mostly of Atlanta and state business leaders and education experts. The group was formed this summer. The move came after the state found it had to sit idly by while the Clayton County school board’s bad management practices pushed that system into loosing accreditation.

The commission issued its’ report to the State School board today which spell out more state control. The recommendations include,

1. Create and ethics code for school board members.
2. Require management training to avoid micromanagement of schools.
3. Limit school boards to no more than 5 or 7 members .
4. Make elections non-partisan.
5. Stagger 4 year terms.
6. Allow the state board to intervene in mismanaged board.

The last point would require voter approval in a constitutional amendment, because Georgia’s constitution guards local control of education. The Georgia school boards association issued a statement saying it values the commission's work, but the group is weary of the details and how these recommendations would be implemented. Meanwhile the commission says it will begin writing bills to get the recommendations into law during the next legislative session. The state school board will discuss the recommendations at its meeting next month.

Clayton schools lose accreditation

A Georgia school district has become the first in the nation in nearly 40 years to lose accreditation.

The decision comes from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools against Clayton County. The 50,000 student district, just south of Atlanta, expects to appeal the ruling.

The accrediting agency in a scathing February report detailed widespread unethical conduct within Clayton’s school board, calling the board "dysfunctional" and "fatally flawed". It gave the district until September 1st to show enough progress and meet nine mandates. But just this week, a judge ruled four members of the school board should be removed for violation of Georgia’s open meetings laws and ethics code.

The loss of accreditation means students in the county will have a harder time obtaining scholarships, and getting into some colleges and universities. The district will also lose pre-kindergarten funding and some teacher benefits.

Governor Sonny Perdue did sign legislation earlier this year ensuring students of unaccredited schools would be eligible for the state’s lottery-funded college scholarship.

Embattled school board member resigns

A Clayton County school board member facing removal from his post resigned today. The Reverend Rod Johnson says he resigned because the school board did not provide him an attorney and because he did not want to testify against former school board chairman Eddie White, who stepped down in April. Clayton County school board members have been under scrutiny after a report cited board dysfunction as a reason for the school district's failure and potential accreditation loss. Clayton County stands to become the first school system in Georgia to lose accreditation.

State liaisons: Clayton will lose accreditation

Liaisons appointed by the state to the Clayton County Board of Education say the school district will lose its accreditation. Special state liaisons James Bostic and William Bradley Bryant say the school board has become even more dysfunctional. In a letter to Governor Sonny Perdue, the liaisons say their attempts to assist the board have "been unwelcome and disregarded", thus they have resigned from working with the school board. They will still work with the district's new Superintendent John Thompson until a new board is installed. The district has until September 1st to meet nine mandates from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Chair of Clayton school board to resign

The chairwoman of the embattled Clayton County school board announced last night she is stepping-down from her post. The resignation is effective a week from tomorrow. The announcement from a tearful Ericka Davis came as Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell called for all members of the school board to resign. This follows news that a Clayton County grand jury is looking into whether the school board committed crimes that put the school district’s accreditation at risk. In February, a report from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools said the board is "fatally flawed" and had issues including unethical conduct and bad curriculum.

Legislative Session.... Day 38

Today, the State House sent a controversial school voucher bill back to committee with out voting on it. Senator Eric Johnson (R.), sponsor of the legislation told GPB reporters that he has fragile bipartisan support for the bill. He said he is trying to grow that support.

The bill, if passed, would have allowed students who attend school systems that loose accreditation to choose another school, public or private, using state funds.

The bill grew controversial after a recent threat of the loss of accreditation to Clayton County Schools, leaving students with little or no options for graduation if it does occur. Clayton County's neighbors worry that if the voucher bill passes, schools in their district could become over crowded.

Clayton school board faces residents' ire

Georgia's only school system at risk for losing accreditation faced outrage from local residents last night. About 2,500 angry Clayton County residents demanded its 9 member school board step down.

Just south of Atlanta inside the county's performing arts center, the school board sat before a booing crowd of Clayton residents.

Allegation of unethical behavior and other issues could force an accrediting agency to strip the county of its good standing. That's why Clayton resident Sharon Owens wants action now. "Now I say to the families of Clayton County,” said Owens, “I want 25,000 people marching at the office. Get to their office immediately and march on their office until they leave."

The board last night kicked out one member for breaking a state law. It says school board members must live in the county they represent. Another board member agreed to resign.

The state is investigating Clayton while helping the county make nine major changes. The deadline for keeping accreditation is September 1st.

Embattled Clayton County school board meets tonight

The Clayton County school board is scheduled to hold a meeting tonight, which promises to be active. A citizens group says it plans to be there, demanding the nine board members resign. The group, Concerned Citizens Coalition, says if resignations are not given, it will go to the state elections board Tuesday to ask for recalls. Recently, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools gave notice that Clayton’s school system should lose its accreditation in September, because of ethics violations within the board.

Perdue measure takes aim at school boards

Governor Sonny Perdue is pushing legislation to allow voters to hold school board members accountable should a school district lose accreditation. Perdue's measure would put a referendum on the ballot to let voters oust board members of a school system as they see fit--Perdue says it's a "fail-safe measure" for accountability of elected officials. The push by Perdue comes as the Clayton County school system is under threat to lose accreditation in September, unless broad changes and fixes are made to the operation of its board.

Tighter security at Clayton County schools' offices

Tougher security measures have been put in place for entrance into the Clayton County Schools’ administrative buildings. Starting today, visitors must walk through a metal detector going into the building, then be searched with a hand-held device. This change in security policy comes in the wake of school board members who have been subject to verbal assault from parents, students and teachers in the midst of the county’s accreditation problems. A recent recommendation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools says the school system’s accreditation be revoked in September. Reasons given include infighting among school board members and violation of board policies and procedures. A Clayton County schools spokesperson says the extra security at its administrative complex is not a response to the controversy, but an ongoing effort to improve security.