If you were hoping to hear how new Atlanta school superintendent Meria Carstarphen is doing so far, you won't get the information from the Atlanta school board.
On Monday, the Atlanta Public Schools board conducted Carstarphen’s mid-year evaluation, its first formal look at the district’s overall progress since she started work this summer. The evaluation was behind closed doors, as state law allows.
“All content of my evaluation is not public information,” Carstarphen told board members last month.
After the board emerged from a closed-door session late Monday night, chairman Courtney English announced that it had completed the evaluation and would conduct another at the end of this school year.
“There is no additional information to be shared at this time,” he said.
Under state law, school boards are permitted to keep school superintendent evaluations confidential. Most school boards do keep superintendent evaluations secret, although they may be released if the superintendent and the board agree to do so, according to the Georgia School Boards Association.
The Cobb County school board released the bulk of its evaluation of former superintendent Michael Hinojosa earlier this year.
The state law allowing closed personnel evaluations is "an unfortunate exception to Georgia's general rule of openness," Georgia First Amendment Foundation Executive Director Hollie Manheimer said.
“The public is not served well by these limited exceptions to the general rules of openness; in short, the more transparency, the better in this situation,” she said.
English, the board chairman, said holding the mid-year evaluation out of public view allows the board to get an unvarnished sense of where the district is.
Carstarphen has been on the job for a relatively short time and “we want to make sure that we give her ample time to implement our collective vision for the system,” English said.
The mid-year evaluation was scheduled to include Carstarphen reviewing progress toward goals for test scores, attendance rates, spending, teacher hiring and other areas — and plans for meeting those goals — according to board discussions earlier this year.
When Carstarphen is evaluated at the end of the school year, the board intends to release some information about that review, English said.
“At the end of the year, I think you’ll see a crystal-clear picture on where the district is,” he said.
The evaluation of former superintendent Erroll Davis was also conducted behind closed doors, English said. Former superintendent Beverly Hall was evaluated in private session, but some reports on her performance — including whether she earned bonus money — were disclosed.
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