Judge Upholds Two DeKalb Suspensions

Both Copelin-Wood and Speaks petitioned for reinstatement to the offices they were elected to hold.

But, according to an email Deal’s office sent out today, the administrative law judge ruled both Copelin-Wood and Speaks failed to show their presence on DeKalb’s school board would improve the school system’s chances to regain full accreditation.

An accrediting agency put DeKalb’s school system on probation mainly due to poor board governance. In separate hearings, five suspended DeKalb School board members petitioned their suspensions.

Here’s the text from Deal’s announcement:

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that chief administrative law Judge Maxwell Woods has sustained the suspensions of two DeKalb County school board members who petitioned for their reinstatement earlier this year.

Woods ruled that both Sarah Copelin-Woods and Pamela Speaks failed to show that their presence on the DeKalb school board would improve the ability of the local school system to retain or re-attain its accreditation, as required by O.C.G.A Section 20-2-73. The rulings in the cases of two other suspended board members who petitioned for reinstatement will be determined at a later date.