A decision by the Clayton County schools superintendent to stick with the district’s May 24 graduation schedule has angered members of the county’s legislative delegation who say the ceremonies will conflict with the state primaries set for the same day.
Clayton's graduation ceremonies are scheduled to be held over two days - May 23 and 24 - at The Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta for about 2,500 high school seniors, their families and friends. Ceremonies will be held each day at 9 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:15 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The Clayton delegation learned of the conflict about a week ago and sent a letter to superintendent Luvenia Jackson asking her to switch the May 24 session to May 25. Jackson considered changing both sessions to May 17 and 18 but on Monday she sent the delegation an email saying she would not make any changes.
“After more deliberation and consideration for our parents, students and employees, I withdraw that statement of change,” Jackson said in an email sent to members of the delegation on Monday. “Our parents have committed to the dates that have been published for some time and many have invested financially toward a very memorable occasion for their graduate. This change of date presents undue hardship for our parents and their families. Our schools will experience disruptions that negatively impact the school day as well.”
Jackson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday that part of her decision is steeped in mandates set for the district when it regained its accreditation in 2011.
“Part of the reason we lost accreditation was because of perceived outside influences and so part of regaining our accreditation involved not allowing outside groups to have any primary influence on our decisions. So this is for the good of the district as a whole,” she said. “We will encourage parents and all eligible citizens to vote on that day.”
State Rep. Sandra Scott, chairwoman of the Clayton delegation, called the decision a form of voter suppression.
“For a system to have graduation on voting day speaks volumes. Our people fought, bled and died to get the right to vote and it feels like someone’s trying to suppress the vote or disenfranchise voters,” Scott said. “It bothers me that in 2016 anyone would want to interrupt the voting process.”
“They’ve known since 2014 that we vote in May for the primaries. So someone in the county should have looked to make sure there was no conflict with the voting date,” Scott added.
Scott served on the school board until she and three others were removed in 2008 by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue for violating their duties under state law. Their removal occurred just as the district’s accreditation was yanked.
Pat Pullar, chairman of the Clayton County Democratic Party, noted that turnout during general primaries have historically been low and any major conflicts or events further lessens participation.
The state primaries determine who will go on to run in the General Election in November. Clayton voters will vote on 31 races: two U.S. Congressional seats, two state senators, seven state representatives, the Clayton District Attorney, the sheriff, various judges’ slots, Superior Court clerk, the solicitor general, the tax commissioner, three of the five county commission seats and five of the nine school board seats.
“It’s just unfortunate. I don’t think anyone wants parents to be inconvenienced,” Scott said. “I just hope that everyone realizes that this is something that should have never taken place.”
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