Below is an email sent out today by Sarah Copelin-Wood.
July 4, 2010
Hello Everyone,
GREAT NEWS FROM SACS.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 a Delegation of DeKalb County School Board Members and DeKalb Public School System Staff, met with Mark Elgart, President/CEO of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SACS. I was one of the DeKalb School Board Members who attended the Meeting.
Mr. Elgart informed the Delegation that SACS "was not" investigating DeKalb School Board Members nor DeKalb Public School System. Mr. Elgart advised the Delegation to not compare DeKalb School Board Members nor DeKalb Public School System with Clayton County, as our circumstances are totally different.
Mr. Elgart stated that SACS' primary Goal is to assist School Boards and School Systems with improvement in education.
Mr. Elgart also stated that SACS is available to assist DeKalb School Board, upon our request.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic to hear these statements directly from Mr. Elgart. I hope that you are also. Please “share” this information with other interested persons.
If I can provide additional information, please let me know.
Thank you for very much for your support of our Students and Schools.
"Working Together, We Will Make A Difference In Our Students' Education."
Sarah Copelin-Wood, Board Member
DeKalb Board of Education - District 3
(404) 371-1490
schoolsandcommunity@yahoo.com - personal
sarah_copelin-wood@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us
And this is "good news?" If this is true, then SACS is sticking their heads up their ***ses, because this school board definitely needs some investigating. And SCW is one of the guiltiest parties.
ReplyDeleteI guess this tells us all we need to know about the validity of SACS as an agency to ensure the quality of our children's education.
ReplyDeleteI wonder now about the substantial amount of money DCSS pays to SACS for accreditation. In these difficult times, it seems as though that is an area where cuts should and must be made. Clearly, SACS is worthless, except as some kind of relatively meaningless rubberstamp.
WoW ! It only took 13 days for SCW to put out a statement (on her own behalf, not that of the entire board) that doesn't really say anything substantive. As I recall, the AJC reported on Jun18, 2010 that:
ReplyDeleteSACS is conducting a preliminary probe following the indictments. In the next six weeks, SACS officials will send the DeKalb school board a list of questions to answer in response to the indictments and other recent incidents.
“Based on their responses, we will determine our next steps,” Elgart said. “We’re looking at all of the information we’ve gathered over the past year. A full-scale investigation is within the realm of possibilities.”
So what is the real story? Is it that SCW merely sees the handwriting on the wall regarding her status as a DCSS board member?
SACS may not be all that we want it to be, but let's take in all the information from more than one source before we crucify any person or organization.
Do we really want an agency takeover or even state government takeover of DCSS ?
NO!
.
To Sarah Copelin-Wood:
ReplyDeleteYou quoted "Mr." Elgart as saying that SACS "was not" investigating the DCSS BOE or DCSS.
Did he say "was not" -- indicating past tense OR did he say "is not" -- indicating present tense? Which is it? That's a very important degree of difference.
BTW -- I believe it is Dr. Elgart, not Mr. Elgart.
I got that same email from Ms. Copelin-Wood. LOL. Was she sitting in one of those $2,000 chairs when she wrote it?
ReplyDeleteGlad to know that I am not the only one who thought this email was a crock.
ReplyDeleteSACS isn't worth a $1 of tax payer money, if they are not looking into our school board and what they did and did not know about the current investigation.
Who is she trying to impress?
If SACS sees nothing wrong with DCSS, they really need tp apologize to Clayton!
ReplyDeleteGive me a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know why you all believe anything that comes out of the BOE members' mouths. These are the same people that said we are very lucky to have Dr. Lewis as Supt.
ReplyDeleteMark Elgart actually lives in DeKalb. Sorry to hear that SACS doesn't give a darn about the DeKalb mess, corruption and the out of control nepostism. No wonder Copelin-Wodd nd Zepora are so happy.
ReplyDeleteIf SACS sees nothing wrong with DCSS ...
ReplyDelete... they not only need to apologize to the Clayton County Board of Education, they also need to refund the substantial monies paid to SACS for "accreditation."
In fact, SACS probably should rightly expect a class action lawsuit.
One of the things I've learned from reading this blog, is that people are very quick to read information and assume it to be the gospel truth. Subsequently, if the information involves controversial topics, they use the information to inspire their own battle cries.
ReplyDelete"SACS is sticking their heads up their.. SACS is worthless... SACS isn't worth $1 of taxpayer money... SACS doesn't give a darn about the Dekalb mess... they really need to apologize to Clayton ...SACS should probably rightly expect a class action lawsiuit...."
Are we serious? All of these comments are based on the report of SCW.(I think she heard what she wanted to hear and reported what she thought we wanted to hear.)
I implore all of you to rethink the ready, fire, aim concept that seems so apparent here. Surely, we aren't expecting SACS to come in immediately and dictate what needs to happen less than 3 months after Dr. Lewis' resignation. Perhaps we should hear straight from Dr. Elgart(who lives in Fulton, not DeKalb), before we throw too many darts his way. I think that SACS is being very wise to 'wait and see' while the Dekalb citizenry comes together to define our own direction-----polls open in November!
----------------------------------
Meanwhile, do we know which employment positions have been completely eliminated ?(June 30 was the end of the contract for many)
Some employees were told that they would have to reapply for positions that are not even listed on PATS....
Will America's Choice haunt classrooms again next month ?
Can we get a comprehensive summary on central office employees exempt from budget cuts because of funding like Title 1, SLC grants, and ARRA $$$$$ ?
What about those returning retirees like Frankie Callway and her new charter school principalship?
Will school construction have a legitimate overseer to make sure that taxpayers don't keep footing the bill for over-budgeted, delayed, shoddy construction?
Will DCSS be equipped to handle the opening of this school year after completing the "necessary" random principal/personnel changes?
.
One of the things I've learned from reading this blog, is that people are very quick to read information and assume it to be the gospel truth. Subsequently, if the information involves controversial topics, they use the information to inspire their own battle cries.
ReplyDelete"SACS is sticking their heads up their.. SACS is worthless... SACS isn't worth $1 of taxpayer money... SACS doesn't give a darn about the Dekalb mess... they really need to apologize to Clayton ...SACS should probably rightly expect a class action lawsiuit...."
Are we serious? All of these comments are based on the report of SCW.(I think she heard what she wanted to hear and reported what she thought we wanted to hear.)
I implore all of you to rethink the ready, fire, aim concept that seems so apparent here. Surely, we aren't expecting SACS to come in immediately and dictate what needs to happen less than 3 months after Dr. Lewis' resignation. Perhaps we should hear straight from Dr. Elgart(who lives in Fulton, not DeKalb), before we throw too many darts his way. I think that SACS is being very wise to 'wait and see' while the Dekalb citizenry comes together to define our own direction-----polls open in November!
----------------------------------
Meanwhile, do we know which employment positions have been completely eliminated ?(June 30 was the end of the contract for many)
Some employees were told that they would have to reapply for positions that are not even listed on PATS....
Will America's Choice haunt classrooms again next month ?
Can we get a comprehensive summary on central office employees exempt from budget cuts because of funding like Title 1, SLC grants, and ARRA $$$$$ ?
What about those returning retirees like Frankie Callway and her new charter school principalship?
Will school construction have a legitimate overseer to make sure that taxpayers don't keep footing the bill for over-budgeted, delayed, shoddy construction?
Will DCSS be equipped to handle the opening of this school year after completing the "necessary" random principal/personnel changes?
.
Sorry about the double posting....
ReplyDeleteHave a Happy Fourth of July!
Support the Troops!
God Bless America!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sacscasi.org/
ReplyDeleteStandards and Accreditation Process for Districts
http://www.advanc-ed.org/accreditation/
district_accreditation/
accreditation_process/
AdvancED Accreditation
Standards for Quality School Systems.
http://www.advanc-ed.org/
accreditation/standards/
advanced_district_
standards.pdf
page 14 governance
Thanks Passionate. The below on page 13 was interesting, too. Under the Heading of Governance.
ReplyDelete2.5 Builds public support, secures sufficient resources, and acts as a
steward of the system’s resources
Our BOE has failed this one big time. We don't need a SACS investigation to prove it. We needed state representatives to help us find our own money at the state level. We needed whistle blowers to tell us that Pat Pope didn't apply for millions due us. Could any SACS member really look at the millions wasted on the HM trial and not think our BOE is the worst steward of system resources EVER?
@ Anonymous, July 4, 5:58 PM
ReplyDeleteI had heard that, too, about Elgart living in DeKalb. It kind of made sense because his synagogue is in DeKalb county, I think. But, it is not true. I found his property tax records for Park Brooke Drive in Fulton County and they go back to around 2002, I think. I cannot find any property tax records for Elgart or his wife in DeKalb County.
All of this is easily obtained public record. Go to http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/Georgia.htm
Select a county. (IGNORE the parts of the web page marked as Advertising.) Scroll down to Property Search (free search) and search by Owner Name. That will give you the information you need to go to Property Tax Search (free search).
I wonder who Sarah's speech writer is. This is too articulate to have been written by her.
ReplyDeleteNow scw wants to let the taxpayers know what is going own. Where was she when pope and lewis were cheating the taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteThe Status Quo Rocks! Re-elect me, insert current BOE member name here, for another four years of wonderful management of OUR "premier" school system.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to be kidding me.
We must elect a new slate and also insist on the resignations of our former super's entire cabinet.
Do you honestly think anything is going to change with the same folks, who looked the other way for soooooo long?
Who is Mark Elgart? Who runs SACS? Who sits on this board? Maybe we should investigate SACS while we are at it.
The DCSS saga gets funnier and funnier, the only sad thing is, it effects our kids, property values and some kids way out of a system designed to fail.
SCW was not present at the meeting when the Board voted to renew Lewis' contract and give him the raise. She says she would have voted against it and I do believe her. She has been marginalized so much by Dr. Lewis and the rest of the board, that she had nothing to lose.
ReplyDeleteShe has her moments of lucidity and more than any other board member gets that the schools in her district are failing and the system isn't doing right by them. She also doesn't like America's Choice, but isn't articulate enough to make her point.
This isn't a defense of her, nor an endorsement. I believe that her community needs a strong advocate who can effectively make points she has been trying to make. Her district needs someone who realizes that the status quo is really failing the schools and the answer lies in really outside the box thinking to turn those schools around.
If SCW has been marginalized, it is by her own doing. She is incredibly divisive and shows absolutely no concern for schools outside her district. She comes to meetings completely unprepared. Based on the questions she asks, she either pays no attention or simply isn't able to comprehend what is going on.
ReplyDeleteWhile she does recognize that many of the schools in her district are doing poorly, she has stood in the way of making actual improvements. By attempting to block school consolidation, she ensured that financial resources would be spent keeping half empty buildings open rather than on education.