Chairman steps down as Atlanta school board elects new leader

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By Kristina Torres

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta school board elected member Brenda Muhammad as its new chairwoman Wednesday, taking a step forward in efforts to win back full accreditation.

Brenda Muhammad succeeds Khaatim Sherrer El as chair of the Atlanta school board.

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A 7-1 vote put the leadership change into effect immediately. It came less than 24 hours after a Fulton County judge allowed the board to accept the resignation of former Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El.

Emmett Johnson, an El detractor, was the only board member to dissent. He declined afterward to explain why.

"This is a move in the right direction, for the right reasons, for the right people -- the students of Atlanta Public Schools," Muhammad said.

She and member Reuben McDaniel had been informally identified last month as the board's likely new leaders.

Board members asked Superior Court Judge John J. Goger Monday to release them from a portion of a consent order he issued last year. It had required current leaders, including El, to remain in place until Dec. 31. The judge issued the order during a lawsuit among board members.

El announced last month he would resign as chairman as long as the judge released the board from that timeline. El's departure came as the board tries to coalesce behind new leadership. He remained a regular member of the board, which was put on accredited probation in January for infighting.

Vice Chairwoman Cecily Harsch-Kinnane, who could not attend the meeting, also plans to step down from leadership. She, too, would remain a regular member. An election for the vice chairmanship, likely to be claimed by McDaniel, is expected at the board's next meeting Monday.

Under El's leadership, the board made some progress in its accreditation work, but he had come under increasing fire by key stakeholders, including the city's powerful business community. He also clashed publicly with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

Reed had disavowed El for the controversy he created when he claimed the board's chairmanship last year. After a private meeting two weeks ago with Muhammad, McDaniel and two other members, Reed pledged to work with the board's new leaders to help the district regain its accreditation.

Muhammad, with more than a decade's worth of service, is one of the board's longest-serving members and has held the chairmanship before. McDaniel, who took office last year, is viewed as a consensus builder.

Wednesday's vote was applauded by the Step Up or Step Down parents group, which formed in the wake of the accreditation crisis. Spokeswoman Julie Salisbury said members were well aware more work remains to be done.