Friday, an agency in charge of assessing school quality wraps up a visit to DeKalb County. But DeKalb isn’t the only metro Atlanta district that has struggled to keep its accreditation in good standing. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or SACS, put the Atlanta Public Schools on probation last year. The district has since improved its status. In 2008, SACS revoked the Clayton County Schools’ accreditation. It has since earned it back. Now, SACS is investigating the DeKalb school board for allegations of poor financial management and interfering in district operations. Mark Elgart, the CEO of SACS’ parent company, says these problems are somewhat unique to the metro area.
“We work with over 6000 school systems in the country,” Elgart says, “And less than 60, so less than 1%, have had documented governance issues.”
Elgart says SACS sees more of these problems in the South. That’s because the South often has larger school districts, which are harder to govern effectively. Elgart says if the allegations against DeKalb are found to be true, SACS will likely place the district on probation. If that happens, the board will have about six months to make recommended improvements.
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