These bozos had 5 YEARS to clean up their act. Now it’s the children that suffer. Since when does a Board of Education need to worry itself about the students of their district? In Clayton, that’s business as usual. SACS revoked the system’s accreditation yesterday. As a proud alum of a once fine school system, I am appalled.
Low points of the whole sordid affair:
The commission cited Clayton’s dysfunctional school board as the school system’s main problem.
The governance issues hampered everything from teaching and learning to staffing and allocation of resources, accreditors said.
“It affected the entire school system,” said Mark A. Elgart, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. “Today, the students’ education in this particular district is being compromised.”
The loss of accreditation means students could have trouble getting into some colleges and universities, or receiving scholarship money. Georgia’s public colleges have promised to accept Clayton students. Students who graduate before 2010 will still receive their HOPE scholarships, thanks to new legislation signed by Perdue this year.
Clayton can regain accreditation if it shows before Sept. 1, 2009, that all the nine mandates have been met.
If successful, accreditation would be restored, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2008. If it is not successful, the school system would have to start the accreditation process from the beginning, which likely would take about three years.
On Thursday, SACS said the school system had fulfilled only one mandate: to assure that every board member lives in the county.
“There’s positive intent in some cases, but there is no result in some cases,” Elgart said.
Accreditors were particularly concerned that the board surrendered its governing authority to Thompson, Elgart said. In April, the board signed a contract that allowed Thompson as the new superintendent to violate policies and circumvent the board.
“The current contract cedes authority to the superintendent,” Elgart said. “It not only violates standards for accreditation, but board policy and violates state law.”
The accreditation loss doesn’t just affect students, but every resident and business owner in Clayton.
Real estate agents have estimated the county has lost almost $550 million in housing equity since the school system was placed on probation in 2003.
Obi's Sister 
jesse@algerprep.com said,
September 19, 2008 at 11:50 am
My nephew did not pass the GGT and we found a solution for him that will also work for seniors in Clayton County schools. It is a diploma from a private school that was issued based on the credits he earned at his school. He chose to go to Grambling, but any college/university would have accepted his new diploma. I will be happy to share the solution. jesse@algerprep.com
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