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DeKalb County Schools now fully accredited

Avondale Estates Metro ATL

DeKalb County Schools now fully accredited

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R. Stephen Green. Source: http://kcpublicschools.org/

R. Stephen Green. Source: http://kcpublicschools.org/

DeKalb County Schools is now fully accredited, according to AdvancED, the organization that accredits schools across the nation.

AdvancED sent a letter on Jan. 28 informing Superintendent Stephen Green that the school system’s status had been updated to “accredited” from “accredited under review.” The letter notes that the accreditation will expire in 2017, and the school system will have to work to maintain its status.

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The announcement from AdvancED ends a saga that began over three years ago when DeKalb was placed on “accreditation probation” in 2012. That prompted Gov. Nathan Deal to remove six school board members from office.

In a press release, Green said, “I am proud of the hard work and diligent effort on the part of the teachers, staff, and the Board of Education to return the District to full accreditation. The DeKalb County School District will be relentless in sustaining the work completed and remain focused on the quality of instruction in the classroom and thereby raise the bar for teaching and learning. Our students will rise to the level of expectation that we set. We are locked in on this mission.”

If DeKalb had lost its accreditation, it would’ve had serious consequences for students and the county. Students would’ve had a harder time getting into colleges and it would’ve hurt economic development in the county.

According to an article published by Reporter Newspapers in 2012, the AdvancED report was unsparing in its criticism of the school board, accusing board members of meddling in day-to-day operations and finding that nepotism – the hiring of relatives – was prevalent throughout the system. To read more about the original report from 2012, click here.

Here is the Jan. 28 letter from AdvancED announcing its decision.

SACS letter.2.2.16

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