As we move into 2009, it’s time to rehabilitate the reputation of the Clayton County Public Schools and its school board.
For most of last year, Clayton County was the nation’s poster child of a school board “gone bad.” Some board members interfered in administrative matters. They bickered at board meetings. They accused one another of wrongdoing and asked state officials to conduct investigations of their colleagues.
It was as dysfunctional a school board as existed. And ultimately, it paid the price. An outraged public demanded that board members resign. Those that resisted were removed from office by the governor. And the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools stripped the school system of its accreditation.
But that’s the past. And it’s important to make that clear. The old board is gone-all nine members swept from office-and a new board is attempting to pick up the pieces and rebuild public confidence in the school board and the school system.
They’re making progress. Very conscious of the need to break away from the past, the new board at its December meeting stuck strictly to its agenda, limited board member remarks, and followed parliamentary procedures to a degree I’ve seldom seen.
It was as dull a board meeting as I’ve intended in 30 years. And, given the sad drama of past meetings, that’s a compliment.
Why was I at the meeting? I visited Clayton County as part of my research into a “case study” of the old board and what went wrong it. The article will appear in the March ASBJ.
It’s not a pretty story. The old board talked a lot about the “needs of the children,” but when push came to shove, board members often succumbed to the personal animosity and suspicions that had grown between them. In the end, they could not simply shut up and get on with the business at hand.
(In my magazine article, I believe I chose more diplomatic language to make that point.)
Some readers might question why ASBJ would devote its editorial space to a dysfunctional school board. After all, don’t such horror stories give critics of local school governance more ammunition for their agendas?
Well, they already have that ammunition. In Georgia, for example, state lawmakers are talking about new rules to govern school boards-a direct result of the year of negative headlines coming out of Clayton County.
But I think there’s good reason for school boards to read this case study. These board members weren’t evil people. They weren’t stupid. They just got lost their way. They lost their sense of teamwork. And, ultimately, they lost their ability to accept that they had failed as a board.
Some boards may recognize those danger signs in their own activities-and, hopefully, will take the story of Clayton County to heart.
But, as I’ve already noted, it’s also important to remember that this upcoming article is about the past. That school board is gone. We should learn the lessons it has to offer. But we also must remember that there’s a new board in Clayton County-and it’s working hard to be a good board.
I wish them luck.
Del Stover, Senior Editor
