DEL.ICIO.USHopes dim for Clayton school board; old issues remain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, September 05, 2008
After his two fellow members stood him up at a meeting, a new Clayton County school board member said Friday there is little hope the troubled district will regain accreditation.
On Friday, the decimated board returned to the same problems that caused Clayton to lose accreditation last week: bickering and dysfunction.
Elissa Eubanks / eeubanks@ajc.com
Clayton County school board member Michael King apologizes to an audience of concerned parents, community members and media after two other board members failed to arrive at the Performing Arts Center for a planned meeting Friday. The board members planned to discuss appointments to fill its vacancies and accreditation.
• Photos: Timeline of Clayton schools' woes• AJC editorial: Less hope
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Member Michael King accused fellow members Alieka Anderson and Trinia Garrett of not fulfilling their duties by not showing up for the meeting — a meeting that Superintendent John Thompson and other officials had opposed.
King had indicated earlier Friday that the board needs to reconsider Thompson’s employment contract with the school district. King said that contract was a factor in the district’s losing accreditation.
Anderson, in turn, said she didn’t know anything about the meeting. Asked another question, she hung up on a reporter.
Garrett did not return three phone calls.
The school district accused King of violating board policy. A spokesman for Thompson at one point said the board would not be allowed inside school facilities to meet — and King responded by saying he’d meet in a parking lot, if necessary.
“I don’t even think they know what they’re doing,” said Monique Henderson, a Hampton mother who works for a Clayton children’s shelter. “I wonder if some of them are representing their own interests and not the children.”
Henderson came to the Clayton County Performing Arts Center Friday afternoon for the board meeting, which had been advertised in the Clayton News Daily.
At issue during the day was the legality of the called meeting.
“The three of us called the meeting, and that makes it official,” King said. “We submitted a legal notice within the required 24 hours.”
But when King arrived, his colleagues weren’t there. They didn’t return “six or seven” phone calls, he said.
“I’m very disappointed,” King told six parents and several reporters who showed up for the meeting. “We only have a year to get [accreditation] reinstated. With this kind of start, I don’t know if there is any hope.”
The board — which lost four members last week after its accreditation was yanked — was scheduled Friday to appoint Ophelia Burroughs, Wanda Smith and Jessie Goree to the open district seats. Goree had been appointed Wednesday night, but King said that appointment was not valid because no vote was taken.
The school district issued a statement saying the called meeting would violate six board policies and the state Open Meetings Act.
King, an attorney elected to the board last month, said the board had acted appropriately when it called the meeting and even had the approval of the Georgia School Boards Association.
King said he suspects Thompson intervened.
“Until we get a permanent superintendent, you’re not going to get accreditation back,” King told the assembled parents. “It appears Dr. Thompson’s method of operation … is to get five votes and protect his job. He may have gotten to the other members.”
The board must appoint at least two more members before it can conduct any business other than member appointments. The board has another meeting scheduled for Monday night.
Today, the members are set to attend a “team building” meeting arranged weeks ago by the district through the Carl Vinson Institute of Local Government, according to district spokesman Charles White.
He said the session would include “group dynamics, and conflict management and resolution.”
White added, “This is a training session. No business will be conducted.”
Last week, the Southern Association of College and Schools revoked the accreditation of the 50,000-student district. On the same day, Gov. Sonny Perdue removed four school board members for violating the state Open Meetings Act and code of ethics.
Since then, King has accused his fellow board members of illegally closing two meetings and making an appointment without a proper vote.
Steve Lyle, a Rex business owner and Jonesboro High School graduate, said he has no hope in the new board’s ability to right the district.
“All of the problems we just got out of, and we don’t have any better on the board now,” said Lyle, who tried to attend Friday’s meeting. “It’s disappointing.”
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