Atlanta school board sets path to fix accreditation

By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta school board members voted Monday night to accept an accreditation report that put the school system on probation. The work to win back full standing, however, is only beginning. Since the vote came at 11:30 p.m., well after most of a standing-room-only audience had left, here is a summary of what happened and what comes next.

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Phil Skinner, pskinner@ajc.com Rick and Jeannie Ross listen in a packed room as AdvancED CEO Mark Elgart makes a presentation of six recommended actions the Atlanta School Board can take to get off probation by SACS, one of the nation's top accrediting agencies, during a board meeting this week.

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THE VOTE

The vote to accept the report was 7-0. Board members Yolanda Johnson and Emmett Johnson had both left by then, but they had both supported it in an earlier committee meeting. Perhaps more notable was that the night's contentiousness came not from board members, who have spent months trading barbs, but from an audience demanding they get their act together.

FIRST STEPS

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) blamed the board entirely for its sanction and gave members six mandates for improvement. Those touch on various aspects of governance and leadership -- policy making, consensus building, communication -- but generally mean to push the board to work cohesively as a unit. Monday, members seemed to make a concerted effort to do just that. They talked through each of the mandates, forming key questions to shape their work as well as outlining first steps to take. The effort prompted some immediate dividends. The board agreed to meet every Monday to get things going. They set a goal of making documented progress on their issues by the start of May. Members committed to forming a stakeholders' committee, possibly including two liaisons from the governor's office, to track their work. They also pledged that it would take a 7-2 vote to hire any superintendent, whether that person was interim or full-time.

WHAT'S NEXT

The early work will be dirty: Members will have to solidify their ideas into firm actions. Early among them will be how to identify firms to conduct a superintendent search, as well as deciding what leadership style and traits they want to see in their next superintendent. Board members also have been tasked with finding a mediator to work through personal and trust issues they have with each other, which means they must first agree on whom to use. Expect those discussions Monday.