Georgia Attorney General says SACS should be more transparent | www.ajc.com

The private agency that accredits public schools in Georgia can make or break a community, driving down property values and threatening the future of college-bound students.

Under Georgia law, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools can also set the stage for the removal of elected school board members, yet it is not subject to the state law that forces public agencies to share records with the public, and critics contend its use of anonymous sources makes disproving allegations impossible.

SACS’ records, or the lack of them, became the focus of recent administrative court hearings for DeKalb school board members who contested their suspensions under a relatively new law that authorizes the governor to suspend and ultimately remove members in districts at risk of losing accreditation.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens who championed a recent overhaul of the state’s open records laws that imposed greater transparency on local government told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wants SACS to voluntarily comply with it.

“They have a huge impact not just on education but on the quality of the whole community,” Olens said, adding that the agency should be “required” to release some records in connection with accreditation decisions. If SACS refuses to comply, he said, the Georgia General Assembly could force them to, though he said he doesn’t want to see the law amended to include private non-profits like SACS.

A spokeswoman for SACS parent company AdvancED confirmed that the agency is trying to arrange a meeting with Olens. The spokeswoman, Jennifer Oliver, said AdvancED president and CEO Mark Elgart is willing to discuss “how the state law and our processes can be improved.”

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