Cherokee County school board member Kelly Marlow sent me a release about her complaint to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools alleging that the chairman of the school board has “lost control of superintendent and staff" and the “public’s confidence in the chair is eroding."

Marlow has had ongoing tensions with the board chair and with Cherokee Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo since she was elected last year.

In response to Marlow's SACS complaint, school board chair Janet Read told the Woodstock-TowneLake Patch:

"I believe it will be very evident to AdvanceED that very few things about our system have changed since they renewed our district accreditation in 2011 and commended our leadership team," she added.

The board chair said she's served the students and public over the last 15 years in various capacities, including her service on PTA leadership roles and in her third term on the school board. 

"During that time my integrity, motives and priorities have never wavered and have never been in question," she added. "I will continue to remain steadfast, sincere and dedicated to consistency in my number one priority -- making decisions that best benefit the public school students of Cherokee County."

It's unlikely that SACS will get involved in what appears to be an escalating clash between Marlow and Read. On most measures, Cherokee is a high-performing district and enjoys a great deal of community support.

Here is what Marlow sent the media this week:

After nearly six months of obstruction, obfuscations, and insubordination on the part of the Cherokee County School District Superintendent and his staff, District 1 School Board member Kelly Marlow has filed a formal complaint with SACS, the accreditation agency for the Cherokee County School System.

“Since before my campaign, I have maintained that we need to be more diligent. We need to know where all of the money goes before we furlough children from the classroom” said Marlow. She continued by giving an account of a meeting with the often controversial Petruzielo. “In January, I met privately with the Superintendent to try and be clear about our expectations for one another. He promised not to surprise me and to make sure I would receive all of the information I needed to make smart, sound decisions. His promise did not even last to the next board meeting and the breakdown in communication has only heightened”, Marlow continued. The back and forth between the staff and the elected officials escalated when Ms. Marlow began to question the findings of the fiscal year 2011 audit and management report that was hidden from the board for over six months.

“I had hoped it would not come to this, but our Board Chairman has left me little choice when, for the sixth month in a row she allowed the School Board meeting to be hijacked by a disrespectful employee who refused to answer pertinent questions posed by elected officials regarding our system’s finances”, Marlow said. “This Superintendent is not only insubordinate to the board, but he is belligerent to the staff, recently telling Assistant Superintendent Candler Howell to ‘sit down and shut up Candler’ in the middle of the meeting while the Board Chair sat idly by. I can no longer sit back without the help of the Board Chair, so I was forced to take this action.”

Ms Marlow filed her complaint on Friday, June 14th to Mr. Mike Bryans who is the Director of AdvancED Georgia, copying the Cherokee County Board of Education, the Cherokee County Legislative Delegation, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners and senior level staff at AdvancED and SACS/CASI.

In her complaint, Ms. Marlow stated the following:

It is my opinion that our Board of Education in Cherokee County is no longer able to effectively govern our school system. I have cited the following grave concerns and provided evidence to support these concerns.

It is of grave concern that our system is being lead by a Board Chairman who has shown that she is incapable of performing her duties during School Board meetings and who routinely violates Board Policy and state law through inappropriate personal relationships with the professional staff.

It is of grave concern that last year’s Board chose to extend the contract of a Superintendent who is allowed by the Board Chair to routinely and publicly insult tax payers, students, elected state and local officials in an accusatory and inflammatory manner and who has a proven track record of causing discord among our community.

It is of grave concern that our Board Chairman permitted our School Board Attorney at the January 17th, 2013 School Board Meeting to insert a surprise agenda item at an official board meeting after the agenda had been approved. This agenda item involved the movement of millions of taxpayer dollars between bank accounts.

It is of grave concern that our Board Chairman allows the public and professional staff to mislead, intimidate and threaten sitting board members preventing them from carrying out their obligation to the students, taxpayers and citizens of Cherokee County.

It is of grave concern that the Board Chairman allows the professional staff to routinely publicly and privately refuses to provide material and relevant information requested by elected board members demonstrating a lack of leadership to enforce such requests.

It is of grave concern that the Board Chairman maintains a close personal relationship with a professional staff member who has publicly admitted to manipulating the local newspaper outlet to serve the personal agenda of the Superintendent.