ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Supreme Court has ruled that a law the governor used earlier this year to remove six members of the DeKalb County is constitutional.
The 47-page opinion released Monday states that Georgia’s law does not violate the state Constitution.
“First, it is a fundamental principle of our constitutional tradition that no public officer —whether constitutional or only statutory — is above the law,” the opinion states.
Gov. Nathan Deal earlier this year used a 2010 provision to remove six of the nine members of the DeKalb County school board. Former board chairman Eugene Walker filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block his suspension from office. The federal judge hearing the case declined to stop the governor from appointing new school board members but also asked the Georgia Supreme Court to clarify several key questions.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story asked the high court to determine whether the law Deal used to remove the school board members undercuts requirements in the state constitution that local education boards control school districts. He also asked the high court to rule on whether the General Assembly went beyond its powers to generally regulate school boards when it created the removal process.
“Throughout our history, the General Assembly has understood its legislative power to include the power to provide by general law for the removal of local constitutional officers for cause, notwithstanding that the Constitution did not explicitly and specifically confer such a power, and in some cases, even with respect to officers for whom the Constitution made other provision for their removal,” according to the opinion published Monday.
The governor’s action “is not an unconstitutional infringement upon the governing authority of local school boards, nor is it a violation of any other constitutional provision or right,” the court concluded.
DeKalb County is the state’s third-largest school district, serving about 99,000 students. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools had placed the district on probation in December after a six-month investigation. The accreditation agency cited in a report long-term leadership issues including nepotism, fiscal mismanagement, inappropriate micromanagement and intimidation within the district.
Following the 2010 law, the state Board of Education recommended the removal of six of the nine members of the county school board. It took no action against board members who were elected after the conduct cited in the report. Deal, a Republican, subsequently removed the six board members from office and replaced them with appointees.
