The state Board of Education decided Wednesday not to recommend removal of the full Atlanta school board after problems of infighting and ethics put the city system on accreditation probation in January.
State board members were unanimous in their decision, though they repeatedly cautioned Atlanta board members not to backslide on the improvements that prompted the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to lift the school system's probation last week.
Seven of Atlanta's nine school board members attended the state board hearing, echoing Atlanta School Board Chairman Brenda Muhammad's vow not to put the school system's accreditation in jeopardy again.
SACS' decision to place the system's high schools on accreditation probation was "an awakening for us," Muhammad said.
"The commitment is there," she said. "I can only ask you to trust us and watch us."
Members of the Atlanta board were at risk of being removed en masse due to a law passed earlier this year by the Georgia General Assembly. It gave the state board the power to recommend to the governor the removal of the board of any system not fully accredited as of July 1.
State board members questioned Atlanta board members on their commitment to stay on track. They also put the question to Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll B. Davis, who took charge of the system this summer.
Davis voiced confidence in the board's commitment. "I have little concern there will be any relapse," he said.
State board member Allen Rice twice asked Davis if he was committed to staying on as superintendent to help the Atlanta board complete its work and stay on track.
Davis was noncommittal at first, but wound up telling the state board members: "I want to see the changes through, and I think it will take more than a year to do that."
Atlanta board member Courtney English said the fact that Atlanta voters agreed Tuesday to extend the school system's education sales tax shows the community's willingness to allow the board to work at regaining the public's trust.
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