Atlanta school board members say they have made the necessary progress to salvage the district's accreditation, but this week they have to prove it.
A team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the accrediting agency that put the district's high schools on probation in January, is visiting Monday and today to see what has been done to improve poor governance and infighting among board members. The team's findings will be released in a written report before the end of October.
The four-member team will interview board members individually, as well as district leaders and community members, said Keith Bromery, spokesman for Atlanta Public Schools. The team will also review the district's 27-page progress report, which details steps taken by the board to address the agency's concerns.
"We're optimistic this will result in a positive outcome," Bromery said.
The school board has made a series of changes since the agency handed down six mandates for improvement, even as an embarrassing cheating scandal engulfed many of the district's top administrators. The mandates touched on various aspects of governance and leadership -- policy-making, consensus-building, communication -- generally meant to push the board to work together.
In the last eight months, the board has elected new leadership, selected a new superintendent, revised critical policy involving the selection of the board chair and overhauled an ethics panel designed to police the board's behavior. Encouraged by the changes, state school board members in July voted to let APS board members stay in office, despite a state law that allowed them to be removed.
Although the cheating scandal came after the probationary sanction, Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of SACS's parent company AdvancED, said in a statement the team will be looking to see how the district "is responding and managing the issues related to their credibility and integrity."
Loss of accreditation has serious consequences: Graduates could be deemed ineligible for scholarships and families could flee the district.
Atlanta parent Julie Davis Salisbury helped start an advocacy group, Step Up or Step Down, following the threat of accreditation loss. She along with a other parents frequent school board meetings, which were held almost weekly while the SACS work took place.
"The biggest difference is there is now a leadership style driven by a desire to achieve consensus rather than push an agenda," she said. "I think it has dramatically enhanced the board's productivity."
Brenda Muhammad was elected as board chairwoman in June, replacing Khaatim Sherrer El, who resigned from the board July 11. Longtime Superintendent Beverly Hall retired in June and was replaced by Erroll Davis, former chancellor of the University System of Georgia.
DeKalb County Schools is also under SACS' scrutiny -- the district was put on notice last May that it could lose its accreditation if it didn't address some serious issues, including the board's ability to govern. Earlier this month the district's interim superintendent said the district had met all of the concerns.
SACS will visit DeKalb on Oct. 17-19.
Staff writer Ernie Suggs contributed to this article.
About the Author
