2 suspended from DeKalb school board will seek reinstatement… | www.myajc.com

The last of DeKalb County’s school board reinstatement hearings begin this week, and the school district’s accreditation agency will be watching, if not testifying.

Mark Elgart, who runs the agency that oversees DeKalb’s accreditation, testified at the first three hearings, saying suspended school board members Pam Speaks, Sarah Copelin-Wood and Eugene Walker were unfit for duty.

There is a good chance he’ll be called again Monday for Jesse “Jay” Cunningham’s hearing and Tuesday for Donna Edler’s.

Elgart’s agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, placed DeKalb on probation in December, alleging school board meddling and other management problems. The agency gave DeKalb a year to fix the issues, and on July 3 gave the district a midyear report card. The agency cited plenty of progress on 11 “required actions” under a new school board with six appointees, but said that if the old board members are reinstated it may cause “upheaval” in the district.

“The outcome of these rulings may have a material impact on the ability of the district to meet the required actions and to sustain and build upon current progress,” the SACS report said. The obvious implication: reinstatement would not be good for accreditation.

By “these rulings,” the report was referring to more than just this week’s proceedings at the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings. It was also talking about the constitutional challenge mounted by Walker. The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments in June about the constitutionality of the law Gov. Nathan Deal used to replace him and five other elected board members with hand-picked appointees. A ruling is expected this fall.

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