Clayton County schools enrollment plunges

Andy Segrest used to know everyone in his class.

Every year, the same kids from the neighborhood came back to Jonesboro High School. He saw his friends in math class, after school at National Honor Society and on the bus ride home.

Clayton County schools headlines:

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• 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

Now, the kids who grew up together are spread throughout metro Atlanta.

Segrest, 17, attends Faith Academy, a private school in Stockbridge. Some of his friends have moved in with relatives in Henry, Fayette and other neighboring counties to attend public schools there. Some he just lost touch with.

“I miss hanging out with my friends,” said Segrest, who maintains a 3.9 grade-point average while running his own lawn care business with 30 clients. “I still have friends back at Jonesboro [High], but most have moved.”

Clayton school officials said they have seen students like Segrest — high achievers — leave the county’s public school system for other systems with accredited schools. That’s because the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked Clayton’s accreditation effective Sept. 1, making the district the second in the nation to lose accreditation in the last 40 years.

The loss of accreditation — a stamp of approval that says the district provides a sound education — means students could have trouble getting into some universities or receiving scholarships.

District spokesman Charles White said about 2,000 of Clayton’s 50,000 students have left since last year amid fears of accreditation loss. Since the first day of classes, 1,239 students have withdrawn, records show. Of that number, 609 left after Aug. 28 when SACS announced it was yanking Clayton’s accreditation.

White said Clayton had expected an even larger exodus.

“We’re encouraged by the numbers, but still concerned,” he said.

The decrease could affect everything from teaching assignments and bus routes to athletic rosters and AP class offerings. The district expects to lose $10 million to $15 million in state funding next year because of the decreased enrollment, according to Superintendent John Thompson.

While Clayton saw its student population drop, enrollment swelled in most neighboring systems.

• The day Clayton’s accreditation was pulled, 50 or so parents called to inquire about enrolling their children in Fayette County schools, a Fayette spokeswoman said. As of Tuesday, Fayette had registered 261 students who attended Clayton schools last year.

• As of Wednesday, 354 Clayton students had registered in Fulton County schools, Fulton officials said.

• Douglas County has enrolled 32 former Clayton students since Aug. 1, officials said.

As news of Clayton’s pending accreditation loss spread last spring, officials in some nearby communities announced that children of non-taxpaying families would not be welcome in their schools.

Both the Fayette County Board of Commissioners and the Peachtree City Council passed resolutions opposing proposed state legislation that would have forced neighboring counties to take Clayton students. (The bill did not pass.) Henry County officials asked residents to tip police about anyone they suspect might be illegally enrolled.

Each district has policies in place aimed at making sure that transfer students are legal residents of the county. Sworn residency affidavits are mandatory, with perjury charges possible for anyone who falsifies their transfer documents. In Fayette and Henry counties, police confirm each affidavit.

Some students have moved in with relatives, which is permitted as long as parents have transferred guardianship. Other parents have rented apartments to give them legal residency status.

Students attending schools in Fayette, Henry or Douglas without actually living in the counties automatically are withdrawn from school.

That’s where Sgt. Anthony Rhodes of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department comes in.

Rhodes, a detective in the Fayette department’s criminal investigation division, for years has been making unannounced after-school visits to make sure students live at the addresses they provide. Among the state’s best school systems, Fayette was accustomed to students trying to sneak in.

Rhodes said he has investigated the Fayette County addresses of 20 students who had attended Clayton schools last year. All have proved legitimate.

On Wednesday, Rhodes was checking addresses when he pulled his police car into a driveway just off Ga. 54. A sign listing the Ten Commandments adorned the front yard, but there was no sign of children outside the brown ranch home. The officer became suspicious when he noticed an older model SUV with Troup County tags parked in the driveway.

Rhodes knocked on the door and questioned the homeowner, who willingly gave a tour of her two grandchildren’s rooms. Both are high school seniors.

“I saw the pictures in the room and it was messy,” Rhodes said. “You could tell teenagers lived there.”

That case was one of the 359 residency affidavits filed in Fayette County between July 1 and Sept. 9 and turned over to sheriff’s deputies.

Segrest’s mom, Karen Segrest, said she didn’t want her family to have to go through the stress of ducking police or trying to sell their Jonesboro home, especially in a struggling real estate market.

That’s why she opted for private school.

This is the second time Segrest has pulled one of her three children from Clayton schools. Five years ago, the Jonesboro mom sent her daughter to Faith Academy, which costs about $1,000 a semester, when SACS placed Clayton schools on probation. Similarly, SACS had cited the school board for micromanaging, abusing their power, misusing funds and questionable attendance records.

It wasn’t Segrest’s first choice. But she didn’t want her child to graduate with an unaccredited diploma.

Although her son’s HOPE scholarship was secure at Georgia State University, Segrest saw other obstacles that came with the accreditation loss.

Andy Segrest said he was slated to receive a $10,000 scholarship, which he planned to use to study at Georgia State. The program revoked the offer when Clayton lost accreditation, the student said. That’s too much for the 17-year-old to worry about, his mom said.

“Over the summer, I got everything set up because I didn’t believe them that they would keep accreditation,” Karen Segrest said. “You have to go with your gut feeling.”

She’s glad she did.