Clayton Schools To Lose Accreditation?

A Georgia school system is on the verge of making history -- the Clayton County School System may lose its accreditation.

The agency that issues the accreditation said the entire school system is "fatally flawed" In a scathing report. The report delivers a devastating blow to the 53,000 students in Clayton County. Whether the schools actually lose their accreditation or not will depend on two things -- a September 1 deadline, which officials have until to disprove the agency's findings; and the national accreditation board has to approve the recommendations made regarding the Clayton County system.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) said the problems they found are overwhelming and extreme.

Three months of reviewing more than 2,000 documents, interviewing teachers and staff, and visiting numerous schools -- the SACS Council on Accreditation and Improvement found insurmountable evidence the board was fatally flawed.

"It clearly is an example of the dysfunction within the board and the ineffectiveness," said Mark Elgart of SACS.

In the report of its investigation, SACS determined the school board was being influenced by outside groups, where they had failed provide leadership and vision, and failed to follow their own ethical policies. SACS also made some serious allegations of misuse of school funds on the part of the board. SACS said a comprehensive audit is necessary.

"We have identified significant questions and concerns relative to the financial fidelity of the school district," said Elgart.

In addition, SACS said their investigation found "allegations that attendance records have been altered to avoid legal action or sanctions."

"If attendance records are being modified to avoid legal sanctions from either the state or federal government, then there are some serious consequences," Elgart said.

A special review team said violations and problems are systemic, and may have far-reaching problems that may warrant a review of other government agencies.

"They don't just begin and end with the board of education," said Elgart. "The decision-making process throughout this whole system is tainted."

Clayton County's interim superintendant Gloria Duncan does not deny the findings of SACS' investigation, but said changes are already being made.

"We will work in collaboration to aggressively develop a comprehensive corrective action plan," said Duncan.

SACS said a part of that plan needs to include a permanent superintendant, and is calling on board members to either take responsibility or resign. The board has until September 1 to disprove the allegations of the report; otherwise a lot of students will face uncertain futures.

No Georgia public school system has ever lost its accreditation. Clayton County has more than 52,000 students, so the effect of that loss could be far-reaching. If the county loses accreditation on September 1, HOPE Scholarship and Pre-K funding are at risk of being lost. Property values would also take a tremendous hit because families would avoid moving into the county.

There are a lot of worried people in Clayton County, from students and parents to teachers and real estate agents. One thing everyone appears to agree with -- it is not a problem with the teachers, administrators or schools themselves within Clayton County, it is a problem with the school board.

The issue was such a concern for Tina Brown, that she took her daughter -- a junior at Jonesboro High School out of school, and moved her entire family over Christmas break in December.

"We moved out here because of the schools," Brown said. "That was the second time we had heard about the accreditation possibilities, and it made us nervous. My daughter is a junior, and we jus t couldn't take the chance. So we relocated to DeKalb County, because we heard that was a more secure county."

"We have great kids, we have great teachers, we have great administrators," said teacher Melody Israel. "If you come into our schools, you would see that, and a lot of times, people just hear things, and they make all of these judgments without the big picture."

Students could have the most to lose.