Local

State Attorney General Asks for More Transparency from SACS

August 16th, 2013

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or SACS, accredits schools and districts internationally and in metro Atlanta. SACS faced criticism recently over its accreditation methods. That triggered a meeting this week with the head of SACS and Georgia’s attorney general. The two men discussed how SACS can become more transparent.

Listen to the audio version of this story.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens and SACS chief Mark Elgart agree the agency should be more transparent. SACS is often thought of as an enforcement agency, handing out sanctions when schools or districts don’t measure up. But Elgart says that’s probably because the public often sees the conclusion of SACS’ work, not the whole process. But he thinks they should.

“In the public arena, they certainly have the right to know because of all the commitments, and structure and support that’s given to public schools,” Elgart says. “But, even in the private arena, people pay tuition and should have the right to understand how well their school is doing.”

The issue came to light after SACS put the DeKalb County schools on probation for inadequate board governance. A 2011 law requires a state hearing if that happens. Then the state board of education can make a recommendation to the governor who has the authority to suspend board members. In DeKalb’s case, the governor suspended and replaced two-thirds of the board.

But questions were raised about SACS’ methods. The agency didn’t produce notes or other evidence used to make their assessment. However, Attorney General Olens says his office met with SACS before the state hearing:

“Their process was covered in detail with us at the meeting, and some of that process was not previously known,” Olens says. “So, I think to the extent the process and the details are made more publically available, it really would solve a lot of the concern.”

Olens says he’d like to work toward a written agreement with SACS. Although another meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet, he thinks something can be worked out in the scope of 2-3 meetings.