Many Cherokee parents probably hope their school board sideshow ends.

But there are a few more acts left in the tragicomedy starring board member Kelly Marlow.

Her colleagues voted this week to censure and fine her for ethical violations. One of her violations was sending a letter to the district’s accrediting agency alleging wrongdoing by the board and the administration.  That complaint was dismissed by SACS.

As the AJC reported:

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools cleared the school system of accusations by school board member Kelly Marlow that it had broken open meetings laws and board policies, according to a letter sent to system officials Monday by Mark Elgar, president and CEO of Advanced, the parent company of SACS.

Petruzielo said Marlow's allegations were "very serious and without merit. Clearly, this removes the dark cloud of potential accreditation issues/risks that was cast over our outstanding school district, and eliminates the distraction that these allegations have caused for our community and staff, “Petruzielo wrote in a letter to district employees.

Marlow's complaint to SACS, filed in June, said the school board wasn't able to effectively govern the school system. She said school board chairwoman Janet Read insulted residents, altered board agendas and misled other board members.

Read said Wednesday the SACS investigation showed Marlow's claims were baseless. "SACS did their due diligence, and based on their investigation, there was no merit to the allegations, “Read said Wednesday. "I'm looking forward to refocusing on teaching and learning."

 Marlow has another judgment still ahead, one that could have more serious consequences. She is charged with falsely accusing Cherokee Superintendent Frank Petruzielo of attempting to run her and two others down after a heated school board meeting. 

Marlow was arrested in July for making false statements to Canton police about the incident. That case has yet to go before a grand jury.

As the AJC reported:

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.

 Here is the latest AJC story on the Marlow drama:

Cherokee County school board member Kelly Marlow has been sanctioned for violating two of the board's ethics policies and fined $3,600 --- the equivalent of half of her $7,200 annual school board salary.

She is expected to appeal.

During a lengthy hearing Wednesday, the Cherokee board found that Marlow violated its code of ethics when she wrote a letter in June to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools asking for a formal investigation of the school system. In the letter, Marlow said the district was violating SACS policies, a claim the accrediting agency later deemed unfounded.

The school board found that Marlow violated two ethics policies: one that says board members will recognize that the authority rests with the board as a whole and not any individual board member; and a second that bars board members from taking any private action that could compromise the school board or school system.

Marlow voted against both sanctions, as well as a motion that she pay $3,600 to help defray the expense of the hearing.

She voted with the board in July to hold the ethics hearing. Marlow gave no immediate comment.

She was sanctioned under a code of ethics policy that all local school boards were required to adopt after the passage of Senate Bill 84 in 2010. The law resulted from school board controversies, including one that temporarily cost Clayton County its accreditation.

According to a state Board of Education rule, Marlow will have 30 days to file an appeal.

Marlow, a mother of twins and a substitute teacher, ran for Post 1 after Cherokee Charter Academy, a startup charter school she pushed to have built, was rejected by the board. She won election last year by 24 votes.