Politics & Government

Lindsey cites APS board progress

Says Deal should "monitor" accreditation situation, not appoint new members now

Buckhead State Rep. Edward Lindsey says that the Atlanta School Board has made such accreditation progress that he believes Gov. Nathan Deal shouldn’t immediately appoint new school board members, even if the state school board recommends that he does so.

Lindsey, the 54th District representative, said Monday that he hopes Deal “keeps a watchful eye on the matter and keeps his options open. He’s not obligated to act at any time. He has the discretion to simply monitor the situation for a while. That would be my hope.”

The Republican majority whip, Lindsey was the author in the House of SB 79, which gave Deal the authority to replace school board members if the State Board of Education finds the APS board is not making sufficient progress in regaining accreditation. The state board Tuesday will hold a one-day hearing on APS’ progress. It will then make a recommendation to Deal.

Find out what's happening in Buckheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lindsey said that the APS board “has made significant leaps forward in the last couple of months in particular,” citing the election of Brenda Muhammad as the board’s chairman, replacing Khaatim Sherrer El, and the appointment of interim Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. to a one-year term.

He said that Muhammad has “a reputation as a consensus bulder” and called her election “a great move.”

Find out what's happening in Buckheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The appointment of Davis is “another significant move,” he said. “He enjoys respect in both the education and the business communities and will need both to get the APS oxcart out of the ditch.”

However, Lindsey warned that “an awful lot needs to be done between now and the end of September,” when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools determines whether the APS will regain accreditation. SACS, and its parent organization AdvancED, placed the APS high schools on accreditation probation in January because of dissension on the school board in the wake of the CRCT cheating scandal.

Lindsey said he wants Deal to continue monitoring the situation in case the board gets off track. Deal could still step in and appoint new members.

The representative said he prefers that the accreditation work be done by an “elected school board.” However, he said, the 49,000 APS students “need to be reassured one way or another that everything’s going to be done to restore full accreditation.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Buckhead