Is Fulton County’s school system a ticking time bomb? Is a test cheating scandal like the one that’s blemished Atlanta Public Schools waiting to erupt? Is it another DeKalb — a district faced with the loss of accreditation over concerns of school board mismanagement?
A Fulton County grand jury wanted these pressing questions answered as part of its recent investigation into Georgia’s fourth-largest school system – an unusual move for a grand jury aimed at making sure education leaders have measures in place to prevent such educational calamities.
“You don’t have to look very far (at school systems) …suddenly these bombs explode about stuff that’s just not working right,” said Gillen Young, an Alpharetta resident, who served as foreman of the grand jury. “We really felt that this was an opportunity to serve our community, to just do a check and make sure it’s working.”
The grand jury’s report issued earlier this month found no evidence of wrong-doing by Fulton’s school district but served as a reminder that Georgia’s education systems remain under intense scrutiny amid fallout from test cheating and accreditation problems.
Fulton County superintendent Robert Avossa said he and other school leaders, including school board president Linda Schultz, were questioned by grand jury members at the Fulton district attorney’s office in December. Avossa said he welcomed the grand jury probe and was encouraged by its findings.
“We have nothing to hide,” said Avossa. “Actually…I felt like this is a great way to share some of the things we’ve been working on to keep us focused on the right things.
“The big takeaway for me was maybe we need to do a better job of communicating to the broader community about our work.”
For their part, grand jury members, “were left with a very positive impression regarding the state of the Fulton County school system,” according to the grand jury report.
“There appears to be a strong, effective leadership on the part of Dr. Avossa and an effective working relationship with the elected school board,” the report states.
Avossa said school board members and other system staff members are regularly trained in understanding their roles, so as to avoid the type of governance pitfalls that have plagued DeKalb’s system. Clayton County’s school district also lost its accreditation in 2008.
DeKalb’s problems led Gov. Nathan Deal last year to replace six school board members in the district, which had faced the possibility of losing an important regional accreditation. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools had placed DeKalb on probation and threatened to strip accreditation if the school board and superintendent failed to address management concerns. This week, the probation was lifted following improvements from school leaders.
Avossa also said Fulton’s school district has practices in place to prevent similar cheating problems that have faced Atlanta Public Schools.
He says the district has a whistleblower hotline, which allows anyone to call or email the district with complaints of possible wrongdoing. The system also keeps track of erasures on tests in determining if any possible cheating has occurred, Avossa said.
“We take every allegation (of cheating) very seriously,” he said, adding that if any school is believed to be at risk of cheating, “we go out quickly, do an evaluation of the situation, we write a report, we send it to the state, then we take action.”
Diane Jacobi, a member of the North Fulton Council of PTAs, who has two children attending schools in the Fulton school system, said she was not surprised by the grand jury’s positive assessment.
“They are very dedicated to our students and very professional in everything they do,” she said. “Overall, I think the school system is looking out for the 95,000 kids that it has.”
Typically, grand juries focus on whether to indict people in criminal cases in Georgia. But they are also allowed to investigate public officials and institutions, as with the case in Fulton. In addition to investigating Fulton’s schools, the grand jury recommended an in-depth investigation into Fulton County’s jail to determine why officials have failed for a decade to end overcrowding and staff shortages.
Jury foreman Young, who has two children who have attended Fulton County public schools, says the grand jury thought it important to examine schools and the jail system in Fulton in addition to its other duties.
“We felt like since we had the opportunity, and since we made the choice to say we want to do more to serve in this capacity than just work our caseload, we chose that (schools) area,” Young said. “We came back very impressed.”
About the Author
