Ousted Clayton School Board Member Plans Return

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – A Clayton County School Board member who was ousted by his peers last month says he intends to reclaim his seat at the next school board meeting on Monday.

On Thursday, an investigator with the Secretary of State's office found that Norreese Haynes does, in fact, live in Clayton County. Haynes was escorted out of a public board meeting last month, after Clayton County Police said he lived in Cobb County.

Haynes told reporters that he feels vindicated:

HAYNES: The police department is not the Secretary of State. You know what I'm saying? I think they did an in-depth investigation on me, and found the truth.

Haynes claims that he was unseated because he was a whistleblower on the circumstances behind a school land deal:

HAYNES: I believe they was trying to shut me up. I was getting too close to a lot of things.

An early investigation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools questioned Haynes' residence, and also whether he voted on issues in which he may have had a conflict of interest. Haynes is Executive Director of a private teachers' union.