Clayton board member blasts colleagues

For the second time in six days, a Clayton County school board member Wednesday accused his colleagues of meeting illegally behind closed doors.

Board member Michael King refused to go into a closed session Wednesday night with two fellow board members to discuss filling vacant board seats for the unaccredited school district.

“We got serious issues, and unless we get this straightened out, we won’t get accreditation back,” King told parents after the meeting. “I can’t represent you in an illegal meeting and risk being prosecuted.”

Jessie Goree, who was appointed to the District 3 seat Wednesday night, also refused to go into the closed meeting, saying she had concerns about procedure.

The state Open Meetings Act allows the board to close meetings to discuss litigation, personnel, real estate transactions or student tribunals.

Board attorney Julie Lewis said the board met in private to discuss applicants to fill board vacancies, which she said falls under the personnel exemption.

“After receiving all of the information, we wanted to have a brief discussion to deliberate on the appointments to fill the vacancies,” Lewis told parents.

King, an attorney sworn into the District 4 seat last month, said board appointments are not the same as employees.

Tom Clyde, an attorney for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also maintains the discussion should have been open.

“The Open Meetings Act couldn’t be any clearer: any discussion about filling vacancies has to take place in public,” Clyde said Wednesday night.

The closed meeting came after the board met publicly for about an hour. About 100 parents watched as board members changed their minds several times on which seats they would fill.

The board first heard from 11 Clayton County residents who expressed interest in appointments. After Goree complained and a resident pointed out that state law prohibits all of the vacancies from being filled by appointments, the board changed its mind and decided to wait on the remaining appointments.

Throughout the meeting, King abstained from most votes, upset that fellow board members Alieka Anderson and Trinia Garrett were not following Robert’s Rules of Order, he said. King said he doesn’t even know if Goree’s appointment was valid, since the board appointed her before taking a vote.

At times, Superintendent John Thompson stepped in and led the meeting, saying he didn’t want Anderson, who was elected chairwoman Wednesday, to be embarrassed.

“Everybody called for the board to resign and this is what you get,” Thompson said after the meeting. “These people did the best they could.”

Some parents clapped, and others booed the board.

“This is a mess,” one parent shouted.

Riverdale mother Alushay Jackson walked away from the meeting shaking her head.

“We’re really at a loss for words,” said Jackson, whose child is in pre-kindergarten. “I never experienced anything like this.”

Despite her disappointment, Jackson said she was pleased to hear from the people seeking appointments.

“There was a good quality of individuals, which is refreshing,” added her friend Eugenia Brown, who brought her 10-year-old son to the meeting.

The board will continue discussing appointments for Districts 2 and 5 on Monday. A special election is scheduled for Sept. 16 to fill the District 6 seat, while special elections will be held in November to fill seats in District 1 and 9.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Clayton’s accreditation last week. The same day, Gov. Sonny Perdue removed four board members for violating the Open Meetings Act and code of ethics.

District 3 appointee

Jessie Goree (D)

> Employment: retired Clayton County Public Schools director of family literacy program, taught in Atlanta Public Schools

> Residence: Riverdale

> Children: son in 12th grade at North Clayton High School

> Community involvement: North Clayton High School PTA member, North Clayton High band boosters member, North Clayton High School council chairwoman, Riverdale Downtown Development Authority member, Riverdale Appeals Board member.