LAKELAND — At least two members of the Lanier County Board of Education believe it will take wiping the slate clean and starting over with a blank one to wake the Lanier County School System from its accreditation nightmare.

Erlish Locklear, District 1, and Randy Sirmans, District 4, presented letters of resignation to Lanier County Board of Education Chairman Phillip Connell during a special Friday meeting. At the same time, they also asked for his resignation and that of Heath Wolford, District 2, and Bob Rice, District 3.

“We laid our resignations on the table,” Sirmans said via telephone from his home Sunday afternoon. “However, our resignations were contingent on them resigning as well, which they refused to do. I don’t really know what’s going to happen at this point.”

While Locklear and Sirmans were busy trying to correct an ever-worsening situation in Lakeland, the editorial board of The Valdosta Daily Times was doing the same. On its opinion pages Saturday, the newspaper called for the five members of the Lanier County Board of Education to step aside and allow the rebuilding process to begin.

“We felt like we needed to make a statement, like we needed to stand up for everything right with the Lanier County School System,” Sirmans said. “We were hoping that maybe an interim board could be appointed to come in and establish a little peace. Our county is filled with so much controversy, so much talk, right now. It just needs to stop.”



Initial investigation conducted

In October 2005, the Lanier County School System was placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. A SACS CASI special review team noted such action was necessary for the rest of the 2005-06 academic year due to violations of the accrediting body’s governance standards.

Based on the content of letters and telephone calls received over the course of several months, SACS CASI appointed the special review team to conduct an Aug. 17, 2005, visit to Lakeland and the Lanier County School System. The group was charged with investigating the activities, decisions and actions of the Lanier County Board of Education over a period of six to eight months.

“The purpose of the visit to Lanier County was to gather information and evidence needed to support an objective determination as to the validity of the allegations and behaviors of Lanier County Board (of Education) members that appeared to be in violation of the governance standard for accreditation,” the special review team stated in its initial report.

To fulfill the SACS CASI governance standard for accreditation, the Lanier County Board of Education must adopt policies and procedures that provide for effective operation of the Lanier County School System; recognize and preserve the executive, administrative, and leadership prerogatives of the administrative head of the Lanier County School System; and permit the administrative team of the Lanier County School System to implement policies and procedures without interference. In order to be accredited by SACS CASI, public schools serving students in grades kindergarten through 12 must meet 10 standards — from having a mission to having a continuous process of school improvement — and comply with its own policies and procedures.

“It is particularly important for schools to have the security and direction that come with clearly defined policies and procedures, and when such policies and procedures are ignored or circumvented by the local board, it does affect the efficient and effective operation of the schools,” the special review team stated.

According to the SACS CASI policy, investigations of member schools are not initiated unless allegations are supported by substantial evidence and involve matters that could seriously hinder or disrupt the educational effectiveness of the institution.

The special review team identified a number of Lanier County Board of Education actions and behaviors that were in direct violation of its own policies and procedures. It found certain board members had operated outside their “clearly” defined roles and responsibilities and parameters of authority.

The special review team also expressed concern regarding the Lanier County Board of Education’s failure to adopt an ethics policy.Team members were concerned about the board’s inability to work in harmony for the benefit of everyone involved.

“The facts identified in the work of the special review team indicate that some of the Board of Education members demonstrate an understanding of the role of the board and have made the commitment to operate within the legal parameters of the board’s defined responsibility,” the special review team stated. “However, the actions of some of the Lanier County board members reflect a complete lack of understanding of the role of the Board of Education or these members have made a conscious choice to move beyond the boundaries of their roles defined in law and identified in the Lanier County’s policies and procedures.”

The SACS CASI special review team recommended the Lanier County Board of Education refocus its commitments and energies to the educational welfare of all students; review all policies and procedures of the board to ensure they are current and focused on the educational welfare of all students; ensure all actions and decisions of all its members are in keeping with approved policies and procedures and applicable laws and regulations; adopt an ethics policy that focuses on the development of collaborative relationships between and among its members and the creation of a positive learning environment for the students; and continue to participate in Georgia School Boards Association training to develop an understanding of legally defined roles and responsibilities of the board.

SACS CASI indicated its special review team would return to the Lanier County School System for a followup review in April. In an interview with the Lanier County News following the release of the invitial report, SACS CASI President and Chief Executive Officer Mark A. Elgart said this visit “is critical to determine whether or not the school system is making an honest and appropriate effort to improve.”

Elgart gave the Lanier County School System one year to make substantive improvement or face losing its accreditation. He said it would take a change in the governance of the school system — from the way the Lanier County Board of Education operates its meetings to how individual members act outside of meetings — to resolve the situation.

“Because such an issue can have a dramatic impact on the quality of schooling offered children, SACS requires the problem to be addressed immediately so that students are not significantly impacted,” Elgart told the Lanier County News.



Team makes return visit

The SACS CASI special review team made a return visit to Lakeland and the Lanier County School System on April 27 for the purpose of assessing any progress made by the Lanier County Board of Education. What it discovered during the followup review caused its members to recommend accreditation move one step closer to being revoked.

In a letter dated May 24 and addressed for former Superintendent Eloise Sorrell, Elgart indicated SACS CASI will meet Friday and take action on the recommendation to demote the Lanier County School System’s accreditation status from simple probation to probation on show cause. Such action was again necessary due to the continued violations of the accrediting body’s governance standards.

“(This) status reflects that the schools in Lanier County are in serious jeopardy of losing accrediation,” Elgart wrote. “The Board, administration, and community must take immediate steps to address the causes of the continued violation of the governance standard for accreditation. Without sufficient action and evidence of improvement, the schools in Lanier County will lose their accreditation.”

During its followup visit, the SACS CASI special review team found little evidence of substantive progress in addressing the recommendations made following its initial onsite visit on Aug. 17, 2005. While it did note that Lanier County Board of Education meetings appeared to be a little more structured and less contentious, it concluded that at least one member continues to engage in actions and behaviors that are not aligned with the adopted policies of the Board.

The SACS CASI special review team reviewed information contained in a report issued by a special committee appointed by the Lanier County Board of Education, a committee that validated the findings of the special review team and called for the Board to take immediate steps to correct the problems that led to the Lanier County School System being placed on probation in the first place. This committee was successful in getting all five Board members to sign a pledge of commitment “to set aside any past differences with my fellow Board members and Superintendent Sorrell and to use my best efforts to retain SACS accreditation for the Lanier County School District.”

The SACS CASI special review team noted it was “abundantly clear” that all five members of the Lanier County Board of Education were not committed to addressing its inadequacies. It recommended the Board have six months to show cause as to why the Lanier County School System should not have its accreditation revoked.

Should the Lanier County Board of Education not desire or fail to show cause, the Lanier County School System will lose its accreditation with SACS CASI by the end of the year.

The SACS CASI special review team commended the Lanier County community “for its efforts to address the problems of the Board. The professional and support staff of the schools have remained focused on teaching and learning, but continuous disruptions created by the Board is having a significant negative impact on the community. It is because of the work of the teachers, administrators, community and the special committee, and the concerns for the educational welfare of the students, both current and future, that the special review team recommended a final opportunity for the Board to show cause whey the schools should not lose accreditation. The damage being done by Board members who fail to respect their own policies and procedures, state law, and the recommendations of the special committee are eroding the relationships within the community and are creating unnecessary conflict. It is up to the Board and the community to chart the next steps.”



More on accreditation

The Lanier County School System is accredited with quality, the highest recognition, by the Georgia Accrediting Commission, a separate entity. Carvin L. Brown, executive director, said it’s up for a site visit in the fall of 2006, which may be influenced by the SACS CASI investigation and findings.

For the students, it’s important the Lanier County School System maintains either the SACS CASI accreditation or Georgia Accrediting Commission accreditation, if not both.

Only graduates from accredited high schools are eligible for HOPE scholarships, which reward students with financial assistance in degree, diploma and certificate programs at eligible Georgia public and private colleges and universities and private technical colleges. It’s often difficult, if not impossible, for students graduating from non-accredited high schools to gain regular admission into one of the University System of Georgia’s 34 college and universities.

Across all grades, students attending non-accredited elementary, middle and high schools find it difficult to transfer to accredited ones. In some cases, high school course work does not transfer and students are required to study the subjects again.

“Each and every year there are schools that lose their accreditation,” Elgart told the Lanier County News.” “The reasons vary but it happens each and every year.”

Elgart said it’s been 20 years since SACS CASI has revoked the accreditation of an entire school system. In the case of Lanier County, he said, “It’s possible and plausible for the school system to lose its accreditation. It will happen if the school system fails to address the SACS recommendations to meet the standards.”

Sirmans remains optimistic things will work out in the very near future. He said it has to as the boys and girls of the Lanier County School System are the rural community’s number one resource and nothing should be more important than doing what’s best for each and every one of them.