The administrative law judge who presided over the reinstatement hearings of five suspended DeKalb County school board members has ruled that two failed to make a case for remaining in office.
The suspensions of Sarah Copelin-Wood and Pam Speaks should be sustained, Judge Maxwell Wood told Gov. Nathan Deal, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
Deal, who issued the original suspensions, has the final say on reinstatement and can accept or reject the recommendations from Wood, who presides at the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings. If Deal declines to undo the suspensions, the board members will be permanently removed, and the appointees Deal already picked to succeed them will hold their seats.
The governor acted under authority of a law that allows school boards to be removed in districts where accreditation is on probation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools put DeKalb on probation in December, alleging board mismanagement. Deal then suspended six board members, five of whom asked him to reconsider.
Only Nancy Jester declined to ask, and has already been removed.
Under the law, the basis for Judge Wood’s — and Deal’s — decision must be whether each school board member is “more likely than not” to improve the school system’s ability to regain full accreditation.
According to Deal’s office, Judge Wood ruled that Copelin-Wood and Speaks “failed to show that their presence on the DeKalb school board would improve the ability of the local school system to retain or re-attain its accreditation.”
The governor’s office has released no recommendations yet in the other cases — for Eugene Walker, Jesse “Jay” Cunningham and Donna Edler.
Deal’s decisions may not matter in the long run. Walker has a lawsuit before the Georgia Supreme Court that contends the law used by the governor to suspend him is unconstitutional. A ruling is expected by fall. If the court strikes down the law, then all the suspended board members could be back in their seats.
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