Timeline: Clayton schools’ accreditation battle

HOW DID CLAYTON GET HERE?

• November 2007: SACS receives complaints from several board members and launches investigation into Clayton’s accreditation.

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

• Dec. 6, 2007: School board hires attorney Glenn Brock to respond to SACS.

• Feb. 15: SACS recommends Clayton’s accreditation be revoked Sept. 1 unless the district meets nine mandates.

• Feb. 18-21: Georgia NAACP, Georgia Association of Realtors, Clayton Student Coalition and the county’s largest teachers’ union ask for board resignations.

• Feb. 22: Gov. Sonny Perdue appoints state board of education members James E. Bostic Jr. and William “Brad” Bryant to serve as liaisons to help Clayton.

• March 1: About 400 residents march through Rex, demanding board resignations.

• March 3: Board votes to remove Norreese Haynes after police say he doesn’t live in the county.

• March 15: The national Accreditation Commission unanimously votes to uphold SACS’ recommendation to revoke accreditation.

• March 26: Brock and the governor’s two liaisons tell all nine board members to resign.

• April 2: Board chairwoman Ericka Davis resigns.

• April 23: Board hires corrective superintendent John Thompson.

• April 24: Brock quits, citing unethical behavior by the board.

• April 28: Board chairman Eddie White resigns.

• April 30: The two governor’s liaisons quit, saying the board is dysfunctional. The governor signs a bill that allows qualified students who graduate from unaccredited districts to receive HOPE scholarships.

• May: 34 candidates qualify to run for school board.

• May 14: Board tells state attorney general it violated the open meetings law. The attorney general ordered the board to explain itself after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed a complaint.

• July 2: The governor asks a judge with the Office of State Administrative Hearings to review a complaint from five Clayton residents who asked Perdue to remove seven board members, alleging they violated state laws.

• July 15: Superintendent says the board has met all of SACS? mandates. Voters elect two candidates and send 10 more to an Aug. 4 runoff election.

• July 16: Board member David Ashe resigns.

• July 19: Two new board members, Alieka Anderson and Trinia Garrett, are sworn in.

• July 31: Board delivers 2,300 pages of documents to SACS.

• Aug. 4: Voters elect Michael King to vacant District 4 board seat and choose three board members to place on November ballot.

• Aug. 12: Board member Rod Johnson resigns.

• Aug. 14 and 15: Seven SACS investigators visit district.

• Aug. 20: A state administrative judge hears from five Clayton residents who want four board members removed. The judge will decide if the members violated the law and make a recommendation to the governor, who can remove the board members.

• Aug. 27: A state administrative judge recommends the four board members be removed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

• Aug. 28: SACS pulls Clayton’s accreditation. The same afternoon, Gov. Perdue removes the four board members from office.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW THAT ACCREDITATION IS REVOKED?

• Students may have a harder time getting into some colleges and universities.

• Students may have a harder time obtaining scholarships.

• Students retain their HOPE scholarship eligibility until June 30, 2010.

• District loses pre-kindergarten funding.

• Property values go down.

• Teachers could lose benefits if they transfer to other school systems.

• The state will not count Clayton County schools-sponsored professional development toward teachers. recertification.

HOW WAS THE DECISION MADE?

An investigative review team, composed of seven educators, was looking for “substantive progress or completion” of the nine mandates, SACS president and chief executive officer Mark A. Elgart said.

The team reviewed 2,300 pages of documents the school district submitted. The team also spent Aug. 14 and 15 in Clayton, interviewing board members, school officials and residents.