Grand jury orders probe into Baker County School System

NEWTON, Ga. — The Baker County grand jury voted this week to order District Attorney Joe Mulholland to launch a probe into the Baker County School System.

Mulholland wouldn’t elaborate on what specifically he was asked to review but said he’ll be poring over documents from the school system.

“This is just the beginning of us going down the rabbit hole,” Mulholland said. “There is no criminal allegations at this point, but the grand jurors wanted a review of the system.”

By law, grand jury proceedings are secret and testimony is exempt from Georgia’s Open Records law, but Mulholland did say that he was approached several weeks ago by members of a concerned citizens group who brought issues regarding the school system to his attention.

Members of that group, Baker County Citizens Concerned About Education, were the ones who testified before the grand jury Monday, he said.

Baker County Superintendent of Schools Freddy Thompson didn’t return emails or phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.

According to a document on the BCCCAE website, members contend that the board spends $14,000 per student on education and is not providing much of a return on taxpayers’ investment.

The document alleges that school system leaders have been unresponsive to citizen complaints and has refused to produce public documents showing the system’s budget, expenses and revenues.

The group, according to the document, is mounting a fundraising effort to help offset legal costs associated with a planned lawsuit of the board.