Cobb Schools Avoid SACS Investigation

The regional accrediting agency has lingering concerns about the activities, inexperience and management style of the county Board of Education but will not launch an investigation now.

Mark Elgart, the president and CEO of accrediting giant AdvancED, notified Superintendent Fred Sanderson of that decision in a letter Wednesday. AdvancED is the parent of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).

"At this time, AdvancED/SACS CASI will not conduct an investigation related to these matters," Elgart wrote in his four-page letter. "Currently, the Cobb County School District remains Accredited on Advisement."

Elgart expressed the same concerns that have plagued the school board since new members Scott Sweeney, Tim Stultz and Kathleen Angelucci were sworn in at the start of January and elected Alison Bartlett chairwoman: ; with little notice in January to and change the agenda for a board work session the next week; and operating in ways that have divided the board and the community.

Those issues not only led to the SACS letter of inquiry, but also school board appearances before the .

Based on SACS staff review of community information and , the accrediting agency will continue to monitor those issues and concerns, Elgart wrote, but without a formal investigation.

Still, AdvancED has added two required actions the Cobb school district must take and must include in its accreditation progress report, due Dec. 1:

“Ensure that the Board of Education schedules and conducts meetings that provide all members of the Board of Education with the opportunity to participate and that are in accordance with the Open Meetings Laws of the State of Georgia.”

“Use reliable data and evidence, requested and provided by the professional staff, to support an objective and transparent decision making process by the Board of Education.”

Elgart’s letter came just under two weeks after Sanderson submitted his official response to a preliminary letter of inquiry from the state AdvancED director, Mike Bryans. Bryans sent his letter March 29, and Sanderson replied on the due date 30 days later.

A SACS spokeswoman told the Marietta Daily Journal last month that a response from AdvancED usually takes about 30 days.

Instead, Elgart’s letter came the same day the school board met in a work session at which the Marietta Daily Journal reported he was going to appear. But Bartlett made a point early in the work session to announce that the MDJ article was “misinformation” and that no SACS report would take place during the session.

The MDJ later reported that Bartlett and Sweeney met with Elgart at his Alpharetta offices after the school board meeting, which ended after 3 p.m. Wednesday. It’s not clear whether the rest of the board knew about the AdvancED meeting, although one focus of the agency’s concerns about the Cobb school board is how well members communicate and work together.

Also, the previous correspondence between the school system and the accrediting agency went to and from Sanderson, but Bartlett received a copy of Elgart’s Wednesday letter, according to the “cc” notation after his signature.

AdvancED has scheduled a news conference for 11:30 a.m. Friday at its Alpharetta offices to discuss the Cobb inquiry, as well as the agency’s work with the Atlanta and Clayton County school systems.