School boards at a glance
Here’s a brief look at the compensation and makeup of elected school boards in Georgia’s 180 traditional public school systems.
Number of board chairmen who are elected districtwide: 29
Number of boards that receive no compensation: 11
Number of boards where the chairman makes more money than the other board members: 44
Source: Georgia School Board Association
A state legislator plans to introduce a bill this week that would give Clayton County residents power to make the school board chairman’s post a full-time job that would be elected countywide.
Making it a full-time job would strengthen the leadership of the school board, which has been mired in controversy since the district emerged from its accreditation crisis nearly two years ago, said Rep. Mike Glanton, D-Jonesboro. Even though the school regained its accreditation, he said the county is still trying to emerge from the problems and perceptions created by the sanction.
The Clayton school board oversees an annual budget of about $500 million and has tremendous sway over the county’s overall economic health and future, Glanton said. By comparison, Clayton’s County Commission oversees a budget half the size of the school board’s, and its chairman works full time and is elected countywide.
“All of the taxpaying residents of Clayton pay into this annual (school board) budget,” Glanton said. “It’s only right that the taxpayer has a say in who leads our school system.”
As it stands now, the school board’s leadership “has no accountability to the county as a whole,” Glanton said.
“Every decision the school board makes affects every part of our county in business decisions, tax base, housing, marketing, recruiting and the ability to attract and retain current business as well as the image and tourism of our county,” he said. “As such, (the school board chairman) should be accountable to the entire community.”
But school board Chairwoman Pam Adamson said creating a full-time chairmanship would invariably mean the board would end up dealing with day-to-day operations of the school system. State laws and accreditation standards mandate that school boards stay out of the daily business of running a school system. That job belongs to the superintendent, Adamson said.
She also said that while she works hard as chairwoman, the work simply is not a full-time position, and the board has already been cited for perceived micromanaging.
As for electing a chairman countywide, Adamson favors the current set-up, which requires the board to elect a chairman. “What if the person (who is elected by voters) doesn’t get along with the board?” she asked.
Of the elected school boards in Georgia’s 180 traditional public school systems, 29 board chairmen are elected districtwide, said Zenda Bowie, director of field services for the Georgia School Board Association.
Glanton said his bill would not change the makeup of the nine-member board. The bill would let voters decide on the matter in a 2014 referendum. If voters approved, changes would not take effect until 2017, Glanton said.
“It’s got a long road ahead,” Glanton said.
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