Clayton school officials say 80% of accreditation mandates met

Clayton County school officials said Monday they have met 80 percent of the improvement mandates to regain the district’s accreditation.

“We are working hard. The staff is working hard,” school board chairwoman Alieka Anderson said. “We are going to get this accreditation back this time.”

Clayton County schools headlines:

• Photos: Timeline of Clayton schools' woes

[an error occurred while processing this directive] • AJC editorial: Less hope

• Read the full report to SACS:
  • Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Large PDFs)



• Read SACS' report (PDF)

Clayton County news

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the accreditation of the 50,000-student district in August.

SACS will return in April to judge the school system’s progress on nine improvement mandates. School officials have pledged to meet the mandates in time for seniors to graduate with an accredited diploma.

On Monday, school board member Michael King said he is worried about the deadline and doesn’t trust the school staff’s progress report.

“We need to give the public some assurance that we’re not relying on staff like we did in 2008 when we got the short side of the stick,” King said. “If that happens again, there will be a riot in this county.”

King said he wanted to hear a progress report from some of the consultants the district is paying or state Board of Education member William “Brad” Bryant, who Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed to help the district.

Deputy Superintendent Judith Simmons insisted the district has met 80 percent of the action steps in each of the improvement mandates. The one major outstanding mandate is to hire a permanent superintendent, she said.

The school system has also met the majority of the 19 recommendations identified by consultants last year in a human resources audit. Auditors recommended changes to hiring and promotion practices after finding the board hired unqualified people.

Board member Pam Adamson, the board’s SACS liaison, said she has seen progress but hopes the district can continue moving forward after SACS’ visit.

“I was convinced they were on the right track,” Adamson said. “The question is whether the district can sustain in the improvements.”