Wow, isn't this a case of trying to close the barn door after the horse escapes? Where's the community been on this issue?
JONESBORO, Ga. --- Lisa Tiller spent Friday talking to Realtors about selling her home in Clayton County, where the troubled school district is set to lose accreditation next week.
District officials scrambled for a fix as parents jammed the phone lines of private schools and those in neighboring counties, looking for somewhere else to send their children.
Ms. Tiller and her husband, like many parents, don't want their children graduating from an unaccredited school, which could leave them ineligible for scholarships and admission to many colleges.
"We are totally disappointed," Ms. Tiller said. "We have a $250,000 home. What are we going to do with it in this market? We're really in a hard place."
The 50,000-student district is to lose accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools on Monday after meeting only one of nine mandates outlined in a scathing February report.
The head of the school association, Mark Elgart, put most of the blame on what he called a "dysfunctional" school board whose members meddled in the day-to-day operations of schools and frequently squabbled.
County officials have said they will appeal the decision within the required 10-day period, and association officials said the district will remain accredited during the three-month appeal process.
Also Thursday, Gov. Sonny Perdue ousted four members of the school board based on a judge's recommendation that they be removed for violating Georgia's open meetings laws and ethics code. That leaves the nine-seat board with just two members.
Superintendent John Thompson spent Friday at schools trying to calm worried pupils, parents and teachers. He was not available for comment.
Pupils said many classmates didn't show up.
"People aren't even coming to school now because they don't think they'll get credit," seventh-grader Antwan Smith said.
District spokesman Charles White said about 2,800 pupils missed school Friday, higher than usual, though he didn't know by how much.
He attributed some of the absent pupils to the accreditation news and some to the holiday weekend.
One hundred pupils have withdrawn since the announcement, Mr. White said. District officials expect that number to grow.
Comments
Wow, isn't this a case of trying to close the barn door after the horse escapes? Where's the community been on this issue?
are you watching this RCBOE...........
School vouchers NOW!
The heck with school vouchers. If you do not like the public school system, pay out of your own pockets to send them somewhere else.
The heck with school vouchers. If you do not like the public school system, pay out of your own pockets to send them somewhere else.
Posted by FIREFIGHTERHAMER on Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:52 AM - So pay tax to support the school system, AND pay tuition elsewhere? I don't think so. It is criminal that people MUST pay taxes to school systems, but have no choice as to where their children go for their EDUCATION.
People do have a choice..... if they get off thier buttttttts and see whats going on in the schools. Stop working so much and get involved with your child(ren).
fire - they did! look where it got them - the point is this is exactly where RC needs to avoid ending up!
Vicktotheend is onto something. How many county school- taxpayers have visited even one of the schools which your money is financing? Transparency is a critical component of any meaningful efforts to improve our public schools. The best form of transparency occurs when school-taxpayers see and hear for themselves what is going on during the instructional day in our counties' classrooms, hallways, gyms, lunchrooms, etc, Insist on doing so. The public schools belong to us, The Public, after all.
Why does RCBOE need to watch this. Clayton county is a suburb of atlanta not augusta.
I guess RCBOE needs to watch this in order to avoid the risk of this sort of thing happening here. Bad things can happen anywhere, including Richmond County.
It's never a bad idea to learn from someone else's mistakes.
Hypocrites 08 - WE do pay out of our pockets for the public school system, use it or not, failure or success, accredited or non-accredited. If school vouchers were accessable, it would simply allow for choice, something I believe most Americans appreciate. If our schools are failing our youth or had to compete with private schools, they would close due to lack of students or actually start giving a damn and only keeping the best staff possible to educate our youth. The public school system is good but it doesn't even begin to compare to most private schools who operate on budgets of up to 50% less than the government beauractic schools. Everyone should have the opportunity to access a great education, not just those who have money and can afford it. School vouchers would all but eliminate any excuse, including economic status, for having access to a great education in a safe learning environment. In the long run, tax payers would save money and students would receive a better education with more opportunities. Having no choice is public schools while continuing to raise taxes and brining in millions of lottery dollars has not bettered our childrens educations - change now!!
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
