The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will file a complaint with the attorney general's office this week against the Clayton County school board, asserting that it is violating the open meetings law.

The school board refused to give a specific reason Wednesday on why it met behind closed doors.

Clayton County schools headlines: • Photos: Timeline of Clayton schools' woes Union members protest Clayton school pick  Retired Marine says he's a contender for Clayton schools chief  Clayton poised to hire retired Marine as superintendent  Clayton schools regain accreditation  Clayton schools to get $25M in federal aid  • AJC editorial: Less hope Read the full report to SACS: • Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Large PDFs) Read SACS' report (PDF) Clayton County news

"It's hard to believe, given how important this matter is to the Clayton community, that the board is running roughshod over keeping the public informed," said Thomas Clyde, an attorney for the newspaper who attended the meeting Wednesday. "The refusal to even discuss openness reflects that they are not taking the public's input seriously."

The board refused to hear Clyde's objection before closing the meeting, despite a recommendation from board attorney Dorsey Hopson.

"Anybody can object to executive session for the record," Hopson told the board.

Board Chairman Eddie White temporarily agreed to let Clyde speak, but board members Lois Baines-Hunter and Rod Johnson quickly raised their voices to talk over the attorney and pushed forward with closing the meeting.

"We do object to the closure of this meeting and past meetings," Clyde told the board. "You need to give the specific basis for the closure, not a litany of reasons. The board is closing meetings where it does not have a legal basis."

Despite Clyde's objections from the speaker's lectern, the board voted unanimously to close the meeting. White refused to say why, only saying the board would be discussing personnel issues, disciplinary tribunal appeals, potential litigation or claims, and real estate acquisitions.

Georgia law allows elected officials to close meetings for certain legal matters, but they must cite a specific reason to the public. The law also prohibits elected officials from speaking with third parties privately, Clyde said.

Dexter Matthews, president of the Clayton NAACP branch, said the school board has not kept the public informed on what it is doing to salvage the district's accreditation.

"These meetings are part of the problem," Matthews said Wednesday. "As long as they have all these secret meetings, I don't think the public will trust them. We need to follow policies, procedures and the law if we are going to keep our accreditation."

On Monday, the board spent more than half of its six-hour meeting behind closed doors, talking with officials from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and two state board of education members appointed by the governor to help Clayton.

On Tuesday, the Journal-Constitution's attorney sent a letter to the board's attorneys and board chairman objecting to the closed meetings. The board has not responded.

White said the board conducted a self-evaluation at another closed meeting Monday to talk about "how we can be better individuals, how we can be better as a board." He said such a discussion "was not appropriate for the masses."

SACS gave the district until Sept. 1 to meet nine mandates or be the first district in the nation since 1969 to lose accreditation. SACS cited the board for a string of unethical behaviors, including micromanaging, abuse of power and illegal meetings.

The first mandate is to establish a capable board.

Former school board member Norresse Haynes said the board routinely violates the open meetings law.

The board removed Haynes last month after police said he did not live in the county. The secretary of state's office has since said Haynes lived in his district.

On Wednesday, Haynes said he would wait for a Clayton County Superior Court judge to rule on his seat. A hearing is scheduled for May 5.