State Attorney General Sam Olens speaks to the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce on May 20.

State Attorney General Sam Olens said an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision could make it easier to fend off a challenge to the recently redrawn Fulton County Commission districts.

Olens, speaking to the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce at its May 20 breakfast meeting, said the U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue a decision on whether Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act is constitutional.

The Fulton County Commission is issuing its challenge under Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act, passed in the mid-1960s to eliminate inequalities created by Segregation.

Section 5 requires the Federal Government to sign off on any changes to the voting process made by cities and states covered by the Act.

The pending U.S. Supreme Court decision is Shelby County v. Holder.

Georgia is a different place today than it was in the 1960s, Olens said. He also said the Act has made the country’s two major political parties – Republicans and Democrats – more polarized. Olens is a Republican.

“From my perspective, when any government seeks to reduce minority representation that government should be sued and sued big, because I totally support the fact that you should never dilute minority voting,” Olens said. “But the process should treat everyone fairly and under Section 5 you’re guilty before you’re proven innocent, and I don’t really people in Georgia are any better or worse than people in Massachusetts.”

The new Fulton County District map adds district seats and eliminates an at-large seat. The legislation also staggers commission terms.  According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Fulton County Commission intends to contact the U.S. Department of Justice with its concerns about the maps being an attempt to disenfranchise minority voters.

Olens made his comments in Sandy Springs, a majority white city formed in 2005. The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus sued to revoke the charter of the cities of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. The lawsuit argued the new cities violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the minority vote. In March 2012, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten dismissed the lawsuit against the new cities.

Sandy Springs in 2010 was exempted from Section 5 because the city was created after the Act was passed.

Olens said Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires preclearance ahead of any election changes, has created a more polarized electorate.

“Newt Gingrich was right 30 years ago when he said Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is going to create districts that have higher and higher minority voting and will absolutely be contrary to the American history of the melting pot,” Olens said.

Due to the Act, Olens said, the primary races in Georgia have become more important than the general elections held in November.

One member of the audience challenged Olens, asking if Republican-led redistricting efforts created districts with higher concentrations of minority voters. Olens disagreed, saying that without the Act the districts might not be as gerrymandered as they currently are.

“It’s by definition a political process, but you get to vote,” Olens said. “I would suggest to you if there weren’t a Section 5 it would be a really strong argument to tell your representative the city of Sandy Springs should have the same state senator.”

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The decision follows a 4-3 ruling by the state Supreme Court denying an emergency motion for injunction filed by the residents’ lawyer, Jenny Culler of Stack & Associates, P.C., to halt the trail through the Brook Run forest.

Culler took the case to the state’s highest court after DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela M. Barrie in early February denied request that the court to temporarily halt construction of the trail while their lawsuit against the city was pending.

In the meantime, work on Phase I of the trail has continued and is near completion. The residents have been watching the city’s progress in designing and developing Phase II of the trail, and have had several talks with city officials about the importance of storm water controls, Culler said.

“The city broke the law by failing to study the downstream impacts of Phase I of the trail and failing to put in storm water control for Phase I,” resident and plaintiff Beverly Armento said.

“We absolutely believe that and stand by that.  But with Phase II, there is a golden opportunity to make it right.  We have decided to dismiss the lawsuit for now in order to see if the city will make good on its promise to look at the impacts of the entire trail on our subdivision and to make sure we are not flooded by Brook Run Park.”

The residents have left open the possibility that they might do so, according to a statement by Culler. The plaintiffs – or others – can bring suit later on if the trail starts flooding their properties, Culler said.

“We hope the city will avail itself of the opportunity to design and construct Phase II properly,” Culler said.

id.  “Litigation is always a last resort, but we will be watching very carefully. If the government breaks the law or damages these properties, we will see them back in court.”

–Tom Oder

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Brookhaven City Councilman Jim Eyre, left, chats with Ashford Park Elementary School Principal Dr. LaShawn McMillan before the start of the Brookhaven Bolt May 18. The race, now in its sixth year, is a fundraiser for the school.

The sixth annual Brookhaven Bolt 5-kilometer race drew scores of runners and fans to Village Place on Dresden Drive May 18. Here are a few scenes from the event, which raised funds for Ashford Park Elementary.

Rich Wilson and his 1-year-old daughter, Eliza, watch for runner (and mom) Katherine Wilson to cross the finish line in the Brookhaven Bolt.

At the starting line, left to right, Justin Smith, Grace Hogan, and Ethan Sumner, all 5th graders at Ashford Park Elementary, await the starting signal.

Ronnie Mayer, left, and firefighters from the the DeKalb Fire Department station in Brookhaven watch out for runners.

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On May 20, North Atlanta High School Principal Howard Taylor wrote a letter to parents informing them of the ongoing investigation.

“Although no charges have been filed, we take the allegations seriously, and we will remain vigilant in ensuring that we provide a safe and secure learning environment for our students,” Taylor’s letter says. To read Taylor’s full letter, click here.

Taylor’s letter, posted on the school’s website, came after Reporter Newspapers contacted Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Stephen Alford and Board of Education Member Nancy Meister about the incident. Alford and Meister said they had not heard about the incident prior to the Reporter’s phone call.

Atlanta Police spokeswoman Kim Jones said there have been no arrests in the case. Police included details of the incident in the police blotter it sends out periodically to community groups and media.

The report claims that the unidentified suspect approached the victim during lunch hours and took her to the girl’s bathroom near the school gymnasium. The report alleges the suspect raped the victim in the bathroom. The police report says the assault ended when the victim’s teacher knocked on the bathroom door and the girl left the restroom without reporting the incident to the teacher or school officials.

Newspapers usually do not identify victims of sexual assault and do not typically identify juvenile suspects. The police report does not name the suspect or specify whether he was a fellow student.

Police learned of the incident later after the girl told her mother. Police reported the girl was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Alford said standard APS procedure is to notify parents when an incident like this occurs.

Taylor did not respond to an email and phone message left by Reporter Newspapers.

In his letter, Taylor writes that the girl came forward with her allegations on May 9.

“After we were advised of the reported incident, we immediately reported the allegation to law enforcement officials, and informed the student’s parents,” Taylor said.

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Jarod Apperson

A local accountant claims that Atlanta Public Schools spends too much paying top administrators, compared with school districts in the rest of metro Atlanta.

Forensic Accountant Jarod Apperson said a reordering of priorities could reduce class sizes and boost student achievement across the district.

Apperson on May 9 presented his findings to a receptive audience at the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods meeting. Apperson urged residents to become more involved with APS as it crafts its budget for Fiscal Year 2014, which begins July 1. The proposed general fund budget is $615 million.

APS is looking for ways to fix a projected $60.9 million budget gap in Fiscal 2014. Apperson said parents should scrutinize where the school system spends money. In Fiscal 2013, the current budget year, APS had a $574 million general fund budget.

Apperson drew his conclusions by studying the actual expenditures from Fiscal 2012, saying he preferred to use numbers from a completed budget year. Budgets are estimates, and spending can vary depending on the circumstances.

Buckhead parents are organizing to create a charter school called Atlanta Classical Academy, and there’s still a lingering distrust of APS after an overhaul of leadership at North Atlanta High. Apperson gained notoriety during that scandal after he provided data refuting many claims made about North Atlanta used to justify the leadership changes. He currently has a blog, called “Grading Atlanta,” where he writes about APS finances.

Apperson told the BCN that parents could get more bang for their buck if APS would reduce expenses elsewhere.

“It’s not unreasonable, with the amount of money we have, to expect we would have class sizes extremely low,” Apperson said, saying class size ratios could be as low as 16 students to a class from kindergarten through high school.

Editor’s note: Apperson produced this video outlining his observations about the APS budget.

In the 2012-2013 school year, APS class sizes were set at 26 students per class in the first through third grade, 33 students per class in fourth through eighth grade, and 35 in ninth through 12th grade, according to the “Talk Up APS” blog.

Apperson said APS spending patterns are out of line with other metro Atlanta school districts.

Atlanta Schools’ central office employs 61 central office administrators making $100,000 a year or more, Apperson said. Other districts like Clayton, Henry, Forsyth and Cherokee on average pay nine to 21 central office staff with six-figure salaries, Apperson said.

The school system also spends the lowest percent of its budget on teacher salaries in the metro area, a number which should not be confused with the average teacher salary. “Because we have so much more money, our additional portion of money is disproportionately going to things other than teachers,” he said.

For example, APS spends 30 percent of its budget on outside vendors – such as consultants and software purchases – while the other metro systems spend 20 percent, on average.

Apperson said parents should demand the budget process begin earlier in the year, and request a denial of a waiver to increase class sizes.

“All of this goes into what priorities we want to set as a system and how we think we can best raise student achievement,” Apperson said. “There doesn’t seem to be a consensus about how we get there.”

Editor’s note: this post has been updated to clarify remarks made by Apperson regarding the salaries of central office administrators.

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