The Atlanta Public Schools board on Monday night voted to formally accept the resignation of Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El, though that action was far from unanimous and seems unlikely to meet a judge's stated criteria -- leaving members as embattled as ever.
El and Vice Chairwoman Cecily Harsch-Kinnane will leave their respective leadership posts only if a Fulton County judge approves the move. The board's 5-4 vote included that request as part of its motion but was amended at the last minute by member Yolanda Johnson, who insisted that the board ask the judge to clarify his previous stance that El's leadership was lawful.
While the general motion had been accepted by members going into the meeting, Johnson's amendment caught some by surprise. They voted against it. Here's the complication: The board had been told by the system's attorney that the judge would look for a unanimous request in order to grant it. Additionally, El has said he will not step down without the judge's sign-off.
Monday night's vote was the first taken by the board regarding El once he announced May 23 that he would step down. The move, if it becomes official, will allow the board to elect new leadership to deal with the its accreditation crisis.
The action seemed apropos, given that the board's daylong meeting was the last for outgoing Superintendent Beverly Hall, who received a standing ovation from board members, staff and parents in attendance.
To make it happen, a small delegation of members have met over the past few weeks with key stakeholders regarding the change, which is meant to signal forward-moving consensus among feuding board members.
During a meeting last week, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he would work with the board's prospective new leaders to help the district regain its accreditation and move past the district's ongoing challenges. The mayor's support is critical: Reed has been one of El's biggest detractors, publicly disavowing him for the controversy created when he claimed the board's chairmanship last year.
The school district's accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, also placed the board on probation in January because of poor governance, a circumstance that caused members of the city's business community to turn to Reed to force a solution.
The vote now will prompt a formal request to Superior Court Judge John J. Goger, who last year signed a consent order finding El's takeover lawful and also required El and Harsch-Kinnane to serve until the end of this year. The request of him seeks to release the board from that constraint.
The board's new leaders, according to members, will be members Brenda Muhammad and Reuben McDaniel, though a formal vote on their ascension will not be taken until Goger signs off. Muhammad and McDaniel have already started to draft a leadership plan to spell out what they will do differently to unite the board.
Members also will be asked through a formal resolution to commit support to change and a move forward. Both El and Harsch-Kinnane would retain their regular board membership once the turnover is made official.
Under El's leadership, the board hired a search firm to find a replacement for Hall, who leaves June 30. It hired governance experts to help with policy disagreements. It hired mediators to work on internal conflicts, work that led directly to discussion about a leadership change.
Those successes, however, were considered superficial.
Board problems stemmed from a series of 5-4 votes, beginning last summer, over concerns about ongoing state and federal investigations into cheating on student achievement tests.
Members gave themselves the power to use a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote, to replace board leaders, who normally served two-year terms. Four members sued the board's other five members in October, saying the midyear leadership change violated board policy and its governing charter.
In November, all nine members, under Goger's supervision, agreed to a consent order requiring a series of steps including another leadership vote that was to remain in effect until Dec. 31. When El was voted back in as chairman, it upset some members who said they expected the board would start with "a clean slate."
Some seven months later, it still seems unlikely they will get their wish, especially at such a crucial juncture. Board members have a July 1 state-imposed deadline to at least show some improvement or face removal from office. They also must meet a Sept. 30 deadline imposed by the accrediting agency to show substantial improvement or face the loss of accreditation.
In the meantime, the conclusion of a 10-month state investigation into tampering with student achievement tests is expected to be released as soon as this month. In a videotaped farewell address to district employees, Hall acknowledged educators cheated and said the findings of the criminal investigation will be "alarming."
The board also agreed Monday to ask voters Nov. 8 to renew a penny-on-a-dollar sales tax to continue paying for school construction and other capital needs, despite likely opposition from the mayor.
According to system officials, the tax could fund up to $519 million worth of construction needs, including a new Buckhead elementary school and a new Midtown middle school. Reed has said the penny tax -- which over 15 years has helped build or renovate 84 city schools or buildings, among other projects -- needs to be redirected to a regional transportation plan expected to be put in front of voters next year.
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