The hiring of a superintendent for Clayton County without a national search has led one local group to complain to the school district’s accreditation agency.
The Clayton branch of the NAACP wants the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to investigate.
C. Synamon Baldwin, the group’s president, said a majority of respondents to a recent school district survey wanted a national search. She said the school board, which voted 5-4 Monday to appoint interim superintendent Luvenia Jackson as the permanent superintendent, has not responded to questions about the lack of a search.
“We’re being forced to go to SACS,” Baldwin said. She said the group contacted SACS Wednesday to request a meeting.
A SACS spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency had not received the complaint and could not comment on it.
Accreditation is a touchy topic in Clayton, which in 2008 became the first district in 40 years to lose it.
SACS has restored accreditation, but not fully. It’s currently at the “advisement” level, one step below full accreditation.
Alieka Anderson, a school board member who voted to hire Jackson, said she thought school board chairwoman Pam Adamson said she had spoken with Mark Elgart, the president and CEO of SACS parent company AdvancEd, before the decision.
“Mr. Elgart said he was fine if we hired Ms. Jackson,” Anderson said. “SACS has not told us to go do a national search or anything.”
A SACS spokeswoman, Jennifer Oliver, said Elgart has not spoken with Adamson. Adamson did not return a call or emails seeking comment.
Clayton board member Jessie Goree, who voted against Jackson’s appointment, said the board has no rules for vetting and hiring superintendents. She said the board should have conducted a search, interviewed candidates and set specific goals for the superintendent.
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