APS Ethics Commission to Investigate North Atlanta High Complaints

The Ethics Commission for the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education voted on Tuesday to launch an investigation into allegations that BOE Chairman Reuben McDaniel interfered with hiring decisions at North Atlanta High.

McDaniel had emailed other board members informing them that he intended to look into the allegations of racism at the high school.

According to the Buckhead Reporter, former NAHS Principal Mark MyGrant and David Durham believe that allegations of racism prompted Durham's wife Amy to withdraw her name from the hiring process at the school.

Ethics Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Pentz said the board will launch an investigation, not to exceed 60 days, of the complaints filed by David Durham about his wife.

During the investigation, the commission can request formal interviews and affidavits from relevant individuals, all in a closed executive session.

At the conclusion of the investigation, if five members of the ethics commission find that there is "good and sufficient cause," Pentz stated in an email to the Reporter, then it will conduct an official open hearing.

Several educators and administrators have been accused of instilling and maintaining a culture of institutional racism. An anonymous group of parents even named key school leaders they felt were fostering this culture in a letter to Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Karen Waldon in February.

Amy Durham was not one of the educators named in the letter.

In October, North Atlanta High's then-interim principal Mark MyGrant was fired suddenly and several top administrators were also reassigned. The firing sparked protests from students and parents who wanted answers.

Former NAH Principal Mark MyGrant said he believed his sudden removal had to do with accusations of racism, but Superintendent Errol Davis said the reassignment of school officials was due to the struggling academics of the school.

Do you think the Ethics Commission should look into these allegations? Should the school just move forward? What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments below.