Dr. Todd's words come under fire

2010-07-26

By Martha Barksdale

In one of his final acts before leaving office June 30, former Fayette County School Superintendent John DeCotis telephoned the state director of the system's accrediting organization to express concerns that School Board Member Bob Todd has violated the board's ethics policy, and consequently the AdvancED Accreditation Standards.

AdvancED is the parent organization of the Southern Association of Colleges (SACS) and the Schools Council on Accreditation and Schools Improvement (CASI).

AdvancED cannot take further action until a formal complaint is filed with them, but, if that occurs, state director Mike Bryans said they could begin an investigation if they feel there is a violation. The complaint could be filed by anyone -- an educator, citizen or a board member, he said. As of Friday, no complaint had been filed with Bryans' office.

"It is the district's responsibility to monitor itself," Bryans said, reflecting on the phone call from DeCotis. "His call was to express concerns about the actions of the board."

DeCotis also submitted copies of several newspaper articles and an interview that contained comments from Todd that DeCotis believed to be in violation of the board's ethics policy.

One section of that policy says the board should "work with fellow board members in a spirit of harmony and cooperation in spite of differences of opinion that may arise during vigorous debate of points at issue." This code of ethics is part of a larger document, "Fayette County Board of Education Standards & Operating Procedures for Board Members." The latest version of that manual was adopted in October, 2008. Three board members signed this document--Board Chair Terri Smith, Vice-Chair Lee Wright and Janet Smola. Todd and Marion Key did not.

Smith said the creation of this document was part of the school board's successful attempt to attain the Board of Distinction designation from the Georgia School Boards Association.

She said Todd not only refused to sign the procedures manual at the time, but later bragged about his refusal in an interview with splostpoll.com on June 29. A transcript of that interview was submitted to AdvancED by DeCotis.

In that interview, Todd says the policy forbids visits by board members to the schools. Smith pointed out that the policy does not forbid visits, but does attempt to preserve the administrative hierarchy by limiting outside interference. Todd also mentions that he could not obtain certain personnel documents that he felt he needed, but Smith said those documents are not available to board members unless they are being discussed in executive session. "Board members have to operate as members of the whole board or as individuals. Individuals have no rights to view confidential personnel information," she said.

Since Todd took his seat on the board of education in 2007, many decisions have been split 3-2, with Smith, Smola and Wright on one side, Todd and Key on the other. The tension came to a head this spring after Todd said commented in this newspaper that board actions contributed to the financial crisis of the past couple of years. Smith and Smola said after the fiery May 3 board meeting that they were considering filing an ethics violation charge against Todd.

At the May 17 board of education meeting, DeCotis reminded the board of its ethics policy and said disharmony could hurt the board as it looked to hire a new superintendent.

Smith said it is certainly not her intention to jeopardize the school system's accreditation, but "if he continues with this behavior, a formal complaint may be forthcoming. I've done everything in my power. All I can do as chairman is steer us in the right direction."

Search Our Archives