The AJC had a good weekend story on the weird stuff occurring in Cherokee County where a freshman school board member faces criminal charges for allegedly falsely accusing the school superintendent of trying to run her and two others down with his car after a heated school board meeting in June.

According to the MyAJC.com story:

Observers say the friction has been growing since January when Kelly Marlow was sworn in on the school board. The Republican with Tea Party support has been publicly calling out Superintendent Frank Petruzielo, accusing him of withholding financial information.

Last month, Marlow announced that she was calling on SACS to investigate. Then, after a long and contentious meeting on June 13, a night punctuated by power outages as a tornado tore through the community, things took an extreme turn.

Marlow and two associates had left the meeting and were walking across Main Street in downtown Canton when, they later claimed, Petruzielo’s car charged them, narrowly missing them. The police obtained a security video from a nearby tavern and concluded that the trio had lied, and charged them with giving false statements to police.

Attempts to reach Marlow and the two associates with whom she was charged in the false report case — her campaign manager Robert Trim and local GOP committee secretary Barbara Knowles — were unsuccessful. Their lawyer, Anthony Morgese, was unavailable.

Jennifer Oliver, a spokeswoman for SACS, said this week that the agency is reviewing Marlow’s complaint and has made no decisions nor taken any actions. The organization put Cherokee’s schools on probation in 1998. Petruzielo was hired to address the concerns, and probation was lifted in 1999.

Cherokee resident, parent and businessman John Konop sent me a response to the recent statement by Marlow explaining to the media why she complained to SACS about board chair Janet Read and Cherokee superintendent Frank Petruzielo.  Konop has had several of his commentaries on Cherokee published here on the Get Schooled blog.

Marlow's statements are in italic. Konop's responses to her are in bold:

….I now fully understand why parents, teachers, future, current and former employees, and sadly even board members associated with the Cherokee County School District tremble with such fear when challenging the status quo. If you have followed this situation, you have witnessed a clear, calculated and unprecedented smear campaign. Fortunately, the majority of citizens of this County are not easily fooled by manipulative accounting practices, unfounded complaints, biased media reporting and fear mongering set forth from this administration and carried out by minions of the monopoly…..

1)   This statement demonstrates why the public is upset. You once again spew nasty accusations with no facts. As a public official, you should question how taxpayer money is spent……once again you have stepped way over the line with the above statement. As a public official, you should demonstrate constructive behavior, not use wild mudslinging.

……It is precisely the fear tactics used by this administration and the Board’s willingness to tolerate them that led to my letter to SACS. The letter addressed leadership and transparency, not academics. I repeat, I have not questioned the academic success our district has earned; however, the means to that end have been riddled with intimidation and a lack of separation on the part of elected officials and administration. I appreciate that my questions have motivated parents and teachers to action. I ran for office on a platform of open and honest communication and this is about doing what I was elected to do. It is about our children, who deserve better. I do not believe in leadership by intimidation and I will not surrender to fear. We have seen this tactic used repeatedly in this county in attempts to scare citizens into opposing reapportionment, the debt building E-SPLOST taxation and to make parents question their decision to choose the best education for their child. These tactics only serve to divide our community and stifle growth……

2)  The truth is our county had tremendous issues with our schools before Dr. P.  Now our school system is considered one of the best in the state. It is irrational to use an accreditation board to make unfounded wild accusations. This is extremely irresponsible behavior, especially for a school board member.

……I do not dread SACS, nor should the citizens of Cherokee County, and I vehemently oppose the use of SACS as a tool to intimidate elected officials into constant state of deference to the unelected Superintendents. If the practice of obtaining accreditation by SACS is truly a process that “yields the best results for schools and school systems, and ultimately for students, by uniting community stakeholders, including education experts who provide personalized assistance to institutions and educational systems,” then they are the perfect vehicle for righting this ship. My hope, which mirrors that of many of your fellow citizens, is that SACS will come, give guidance and help make it possible for the duly elected officials to have access to the information necessary to make educated decisions for the best interest of the students and staff…………..

3)  It is irrelevant if you agree or disagree with the current SACS system via you filing the complaint. As an elected school board member, you should not put the accreditation of our students in jeopardy via a personal vendetta. I supported your right to bring up issues, but your inability to understand the proper forum and process demonstrates why you should resign.

.........Nothing I have done has been done in haste. I certainly have made mistakes, but I have owned them and tried to remedy them. I am humbled by the outpouring of support I receive daily from community members, the majority of which sadly fear the repercussion of speaking out in opposition to the wrongs they witness. Sadly, I see many directing their frustration at me personally, rather than taking an opportunity to help improve CCSD, by focusing on the issues........

4)   Your actions and statements demonstrate you are pushing the drama/politics over any real issues. I tried to get you to work with people for positive projects like the latest C3 Academy online…….instead you would rather throw wild punches. The difference between you and Janet Reed is that she focuses on improving the schools system and puts the politics aside.

......I have invited the Superintendent to meet with me personally. I have asked our Board Attorney to schedule a Board Retreat to resolve communication issues and to help this board find common ground to move past our differences. I have pleaded with the Board Chairman to conduct public hearings on the audit, the budget and the implementation of Common Core. It is unfortunate that the last response to my request was that she would not direct the Superintendent and his staff to answer my direct questions. I feel that this behavior has been a hindrance to the Board's ability to make good sound choices that we were elected by the people to do.......

 5)  Are you serious? According to the papers, this is the second time you have accused Dr P. and videos demonstrate they are false accusations. Combine that with your spewing hate at people. Why would anyone at this point trust meeting with you?

The clock is ticking for the taxpayers. The budget vote is on the July 24th agenda. I felt that I was forced to act swiftly because the inaction of this governing body has left me no other path. As said in the poem Freedom in America by Joanna Fuchs, “Complacency is weakness, patriots can't afford; we have to act on wrongs that cannot be ignored.

6)   Before you do any more damage to our community, why not resign?

I remain your humble and duly elected servant.

7)  Please resign.