The Atlanta school district’s top lawyer, who was a close adviser to former Superintendent Beverly Hall when a teacher cheating scandal erupted, has left her job for a similar position in Michigan.
Sharron Pitts, the interim general counsel for Atlanta Public Schools, took a pay cut from $211,000 a year in Atlanta to $115,000 with Grand Rapids Public Schools, where she will handle legal and human resources. Her last day at work in Atlanta was Friday.
Pitts wasn’t implicated by state investigators in their report on cheating on standardized tests, but she was expected to be called as a witness by criminal prosecutors who were considering charges against Hall and dozens of other educators named in the report, according to an internal memo obtained last year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No one has been indicted, and Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard has declined to comment on the investigation.
As the school district’s head of legal matters, Pitts was barred by Superintendent Erroll Davis from dealing with cheating-related work because of her ties to Hall. She was Hall’s chief of staff for about 10 years before Davis appointed her to the interim general counsel position when he took over in July 2011.
Pitts wasn’t forced out of her job, APS spokesman Stephen Alford said.
“She received a recommendation from our superintendent. She was not asked to leave. This was something she wanted to do,” Alford said. “The opportunity she’s taking advantage of now in Michigan will combine her skill sets from both of those jobs (general counsel and chief of staff).”
Pitts, 57, wanted to return to her home state of Michigan and build a team of her own there, Alford said. She had worked for APS since 1996.
Pitts couldn’t be reached for comment.
She told the AJC last year she cooperated with investigators, and she denied any involvement in or knowledge of cheating.
“I was with the district before Dr. Hall came,” Pitts said at the time. “This is my career, and I saw no reason not to stay on.”
A report prepared for Gov. Nathan Deal in June 2011 concluded that cheating occurred in 44 schools and involved more than 178 educators, including 38 principals.
As of Feb. 3, 151 school employees had resigned, retired, didn’t have their contracts renewed or lost appeals of their dismissals. Seventeen employees were reinstated, and four were awaiting appeals.
Bill Prescott takes over as acting general counsel as APS begins the search for a permanent replacement for Pitts, Alford said. Prescott was an assistant general counsel who reviewed many of the district’s contracts.
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