Five ex-School Board members petition for reinstatement
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On the eve of the April 26 deadline to petition Gov. Nathan Deal for reinstatement Thursday, Sarah Copelin-Wood, Jesse “Jay” Cunningham, Donna Edler, Dr. Pamela Speaks and Dr. Eugene Walker had all submitted reinstatement petitions.
Nancy Jester, the former District 1 member, told CrossRoadsNews in an e-mail that she will not petition for reinstatement.
Jester said she sent a resignation letter to the governor’s office a month ago via DeKalb’s liaison, but at press time Thursday, the DeKalb School System’s human resources department said it had not received a required resignation letter from Jester.
Deal suspended and replaced the majority of the nine-member DeKalb School Board in March – under controversial state law 20-2-73, enacted in 2011 – after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the district on accreditation probation last December.
In her April 21 petition, former District 3 board member Copelin-Wood said she is duly elected and that her continued service on the School Board “is more likely than not to improve the ability of the DeKalb County School District to retain its accreditation.”
“By utilizing and participating in this statutory process, I do not waive any rights I have to challenge both this proceeding, as well as any other action that has been taken against me during this suspension and removal process,” she wrote in her letter to Deal.
Edler, whose attorney E. Brian Watkins filed her petition on April 22, said she is seeking reinstatement because she took office on Jan. 3, 2011, and was only on the board for 26 months and that the issues that led to the State Board of Education’s suspension recommendation “were longstanding and arose prior” to her joining the board.
Edler, the displaced District 7 board member, told CrossRoadsNews on Monday that improving student achievement on standardized tests is her top priority and that she pushed to change the board’s cash-based accounting to an accrual system to help the board better track big expenses and supported a policy requiring that the board be debriefed on the results of state audits.
“It didn’t help that we had high turnover in a short period – five new members in two years,” she said.
Walker’s petition had not reached the governor’s office on Thursday, but he said he mailed it on April 24 and expected it to arrive by the deadline.
In the copy he shared with CrossRoadsNews, Walker wrote: “As you are aware, my belief is that only the voters can elect and recall their elected officials. And the law that gives a governor the authority to remove Board of Education officeholders is unconstitutional.”
Walker, a former board chairman who represented District 9, is challenging the constitutionality of the law in the Georgia Supreme Court.
He said Thursday that he feels obligated to serve out his term.
“So, until such time as the [legal] matter can be resolved, I request reinstatement on the board to which I was twice elected by the voters of DeKalb County,” he said.
In his April 24 petition, Cunningham raised the voting rights issue and said he understands the importance of board governance to keeping full accreditation.
“I have a proven track record of working with other members on the DeKalb County Board of Education, and I believe that I would be an asset,” he said.
Speaks, the displaced District 8 board member, was the first of the group to petition the governor on April 7. She pointed out that she was elected twice – in 2009 and 2012.
“I asked AdvancEd and the State Board of Education to inform me if I am personally guilty of any infraction contained within so that I can begin the process of correction,” she said. “To date, I have not received any feedback.”
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