Luvenia Jackson
Title: Interim superintendent of Clayton County Public Schools
Residence: Unincorporated South Fulton county.
Career: Started as special education teacher at Hendrix Drive Elementary School in 1976. She later taught at Morrow Elementary School, served as assistant principal at Riverdale Middle School and principal at Pointe South Elementary and Kendrick Middle School. She served as assistant superintendent for Student Services in 1998, and held several cabinet level positions until her retirement in 2010.
Family: Divorced mother of two sons.
The Story So Far
Clayton County schools lost accreditation in 2008, and lost students as a result. Property values also fell. It did not regain full accreditation until 2011. Superintendent Edmond Heatly announced his resignation last month, and reported problems in setting a process for selecting a new superintendent were among concerns cited by the accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, in a warning letter to the board last week.
Clayton County school board members tried Monday night to allay fears that the schools’ accreditation is in jeopardy, but some in the larger-than-usual crowd doubted their assurances and made passionate calls for changes.
Veteran educator Luvenia Jackson assumed the helm of the 51,000-student school system Monday just as the district is coming under renewed scrutiny from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a private national accrediting agency. Jackson, interim superintendent, received a standing ovation at the meeting, the first since SACS sent a letter last week warning that accreditation could be in jeopardy again due to board in-fighting and micromanaging.
Pam Adamson, the chairman, and other board members told the crowd that accreditation is not in danger and they were on track to find a new superintendent. “Our community must know we don’t take this lightly,” Adamson said, referring to SACs’ stated concerns about the search for a new superintendent, the ninth since 2000.
But some in the audience weren’t convinced.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see something’s wrong here,” said Mattie Welch, a retired educator from Jonesboro. “We’re not that simple-minded. There’s something going on.”
Welch thanked those she said had worked to maintain a sense of dignity, “but that doesn’t mean every one of you is doing that, and you know who you are. We will not tolerate this any longer, and we need to send a message. We’ve gone through too much and it’s time for someone to look inside themselves and say I will resign. If you don’t resign we will take steps to help you make that decision.”
Five of the nine school board seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election.
Riverdale mayor Evelyn Winn Dixon said, “We don’t know all the circumstances” and offered to help the board. “We’re here for you,” she said.
Then she added, “But I want you to know if it doesn’t get cleared up quickly …
“I don’t want my house to go down to $15,” the mayor said.
The board members said SACS’ letter took them by surprise, and they directed Jackson to ask SACS for details about its intent.
Some parents at the meeting questioned the letter’s timing and SACS’ motives.
R. T. Richardson of Lovejoy said, “I didn’t see similar action from SACS regarding Fayette County,” whose superintendent is leaving. “It seems like this is just a piling on. We’re being held to a higher standard. I think they want to make an example of us.”
Board member Jessie Goree said, “I found the letter to be very ironic. We were following the recommendations of SACS. Personally, I want to put the community at ease … I will do nothing to jeopardize Clayton County schools’ accreditation. I ask you to believe me.
“That letter Tuesday was like someone had hit me in the stomach,” Goree said.
Board member Charlton Bivens drew applause when he said, “It’s rather reckless and unfair of SACS to take the viewpoint of whoever put this information out when they know the damage it caused last time,” a reference to Clayton’s loss of accreditation in 2008. “I wish SACS had interviewed some of all of us.”
Board member Alieka Anderson said before the meeting, “We’re all working together. We want to make sure that whatever Dr. Elgart [Mark Elgart, the head of SACS] asks for we respond to it. We don’t want anything to jeopardize our accreditation. We all worked too hard to get it back. We want to make sure we keep the kids first, and I have faith in our board. We’re on a path to excellence and we’re not going to stop.”
SACS’ renewed scrutiny is just the latest challenge for the school district. Superintendent Edmond Heatley abruptly announced last month he was leaving to seek a similar job in California, for which he later dropped out of the running. His last day in Clayton was Friday.
During his three-year tenure, Heatley helped the district regain its accreditation, which it lost in 2008 due to similar problems under a previous board. The district regained accreditation in 2011 and has since added 4,000 students.
Education advocate Larry O’Keeffe, a long-time Rex resident who served on the now-defunct ethics commission during the last accreditation crisis, said the current board’s troubles aren’t as severe.
“If they worked together constructively they could resolve this without any further action on SACS’ part,” O’Keeffe said.
“I’m fully confident they can do it. Parents need not panic. I’ve had parents come to me with seniors in school worried that their child’s diploma will be worthless. I’m confident SACS won’t jeopardize students’ welfare.
“We’ve got to address this in a positive manner,” O’Keeffe said Monday. “The last accreditation crisis in 2008 devastated Clayton county economically. Business, jobs and revenues were lost.” Clayton has the highest unemployment rate in metro Atlanta. More than 3,200 students left the school district after Clayton lost its accreditation in 2008 and the loss cost Clayton $20 million in state education money.
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