A federal judge has issued an order that temporarily prevents Gov. Nathan Deal from replacing the DeKalb County school board members who were recommended for suspension by a state panel.
Judge Richard Story’s order refuses to restrain Deal from suspending the DeKalb board members, but enjoins implementation of any decision by the governor pending the outcome of a hearing Friday.
Deal previously called a news conference for 11 a.m. Monday to announce his response to a Georgia Board of Education recommendation Thursday to suspend six of nine DeKalb board members. That prompted DeKalb to file a last minute plea Friday for an order restraining the governor.
The judge’s order didn’t side clearly with either DeKalb or the governor, but it does give DeKalb some breathing room.
“If Governor Deal decides to appoint any new member to the board, that proposed member shall not be permitted to take office at this time,” said Story’s order, which was signed Friday and obtained Sunday by Channel 2 Action News. “Similarly, if Governor Deal decides to remove any current member of the board, that member will remain in office, but shall not be permitted to act on behalf of the board or take any other official action in his or her capacity as board member.”
The temporary order is in connection with a lawsuit DeKalb filed to stop the removal process. The suit, filed by the school district and former board chairman Eugene Walker against the Georgia Department of Education and Deal, contends that a 2011 state law allowing the ouster of elected local school boards is unconstitutional.
The law says the governor can suspend and ultimately remove any local school board that is recommended for suspension by the state education board because of risk to the local school district’s accreditation. The law authorizes the state to act only in districts that have been placed on “probation” by an accreditation authority.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed DeKalb on probation in December, alleging a host of governance problems.
DeKalb’s lawyer, Bob Wilson, ridiculed SACS’ investigative report that led to the agency’s probation decision. At Thursday’s hearing, he noted that the report was based on unnamed sources and alleged it was full of “misinformation.” Yet the new state law essentially treats it as investigative evidence that the state can use to suspend local board members.
DeKalb claims the law violates the 14th amendment by allowing the state “to strip away property rights to hold elected office without providing procedural due process.” It “illegally defers to the unelected and unaccountable SACS to initiate suspension proceedings based on anonymous hearsay sources,” the suit says.
By allowing SACS to frame the suspension argument, the state law authorizes removal for “vague and indefinite allegations” that do not inform each board member “of any misconduct of which they are accused,” the suit says. It says the law also shifts the burden to suspended members to prove their innocence.
DeKalb sued in federal court after a Fulton County Superior Court Judge refused to hear a similar request for a temporary restraining order until Thursday.
It’s unclear how long the court wrangling will take.
A similar state lawsuit, filed by school board members in Sumter County, resulted in a restraining order from a Fulton judge in November.
Three months later, that case is still pending.
All the litigation prompted state board member Mike Royal to say at Thursday’s hearing that “I hope it doesn’t drag out in litigation, I pray.”
Some DeKalb board members told the state board that they would step aside rather than fight on if they were suspended, but Walker vowed to exercise his legal rights.
On Sunday, he wasn’t backing down.
“I was elected by the people, but I work for God,” Walker said. He said he would respect the will of the courts, but not that of politicians and the process they created with the 2011 law.
“I’m not going to surrender to a political lynching by a kangaroo court,” Walker said.
Judge Story scheduled the federal hearing for 2:30 p.m. Friday. The Fulton Superior Court hearing before Judge Lee is 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
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