Gwinnett Schools Accreditation Will Face Special Early Review

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — Prompted by “multiple complaints” — including at least one about the school board — the agency responsible for accrediting Gwinnett County’s public schools will conduct a special review later this month.

The review is scheduled for June 13-16, said Mariama Tyler, spokesperson for accreditation agency Cognia. It will be conducted virtually, Tyler said, with “a thorough review of evidence” and interviews with administrators, staff, board members and community members to determine “whether there are any violations of Cognia standards.”

Normally, school districts are reviewed every five years. Gwinnett County public schools were last accredited in 2017, with their next regular review not scheduled until 2022.

“While we were disappointed to learn that Cognia felt a Special Review was necessary, it did not come as a surprise. I had warned our School Board that this was a possibility,” said Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks in a statement emailed Tuesday to Patch.

“Despite our best efforts to respond to Cognia’s initial questions and provide information regarding the standards in question, Cognia has received additional complaints and felt a Special Review was warranted,” Wilbanks said in the statement. “It is our understanding that the complaints primarily center on our Board upholding its duties as a governing body and selected members adhering to their roles and responsibilities as members of the Board.”

“Cognia felt a special review was warranted based on information and complaints they had received,” district spokesperson Sloan Roach said Tuesday in an email to Patch. Gwinnett County was notified of the review on April 19, Roach said. But the information wasn’t widely publicized until The Gwinnett Daily Post reported on it Monday.

Tyler told the Gwinnett newspaper that at least one complaint was directed toward the school board.

Wilbanks, 78, announced in March that he wouldn’t seek to have his contract renewed when it expired in 2022. The school board responded by pushing him out a year early, with the newly elected all-Black Democratic majority voting in favor of his removal and the all-white Republican minority voting against it. Wilbanks’ last day is July 31.

“I think this is Cognia’s impartial response to what many in the community are saying and we have done work in Gwinnett to ensure that we are following policies and building relationships as a board,” said Board Chair Everton Blair, a Democrat, to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Wilbanks has led Georgia's largest school district since 1996, overseeing its growth into one of the most respected in the state. As the county's demographics have changed, though, Wilbanks' leadership has split community support, most recently over his handling of COVID-19 in Gwinnett County schools.

Cobb County schools are undergoing a similar review process, spurred by complaints from three Black school-board members.

Read the story in The Gwinnett Daily Post.

RELATED:

• Cobb Schools To Undergo 'Unusual' Review By Accrediting Body
• Wilbanks Terminated, Will Leave Gwinnett Schools 1 Year Early