The State Board of Education has unanimously recommended Governor Nathan Deal suspend six of DeKalb County’s nine school board members. The action came during a hearing which was required by law after the district was put on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for governance issues.
Governor Deal says he will respond to the board’s decision on Monday. If Deal suspends them, he’ll work in consultation with the state board of education to appoint six temporary replacement members.
However, DeKalb school district spokesman Jeff Dickerson says those appointments could be blocked by judges. He says district attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the law allowing the governor to remove board members.
“There are two such actions pending: one in state court and one in federal court.”
In the meantime, Dickerson says the board is still the board until the governor or the courts decide otherwise. He says district parents shouldn’t panic.
“The message to parents is to really engage closely with their schools and obviously with their children and their children’s education. These decisions will not affect them in the short term. The issue of accreditation does not affect them immediately. The likelihood of this district losing accreditation is remote.”
Dickerson says the district will continue to work with SACS to ensure it doesn’t lose accreditation.
Mark Elgart is CEO of AdvancEd, the parent company of SACS. He says no matter what Governor Deal or judges decide time is of the essence for the school system.
“They have a new superintendent, new leadership on the board, and right now what we’re looking for is have they created a plan that is aligned and focused on improvement in the areas we’ve noted.”
Elgart says the district began shaping that plan this week. He says SACS will visit the district in May to see if it’s making progress and will decide in December whether the district will lose its accreditation. Under state law, suspended board members can petition for reinstatement within 30 to 60 days of their suspension. If they don’t petition for reinstatement they’re removal from the board becomes permanent. If a suspended board member petitions for reinstatement, the governor or someone acting on his behalf will determine whether to place the suspended board member back on the board or remove them permanently.
In a statement Governor Deal says,
“I will continue to look at this case over the weekend, and I will report my decision to Georgians on Monday. Removing elected officials from office is a serious duty, not undertaken lightly. That responsibility, however, pales in comparison to the importance of assuring the credibility of students’ education. I will do everything in my power to prevent the loss of accreditation of the DeKalb school system and the devastating impact it would have on students and economic development in one of the state’s largest counties.”
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