A complaint filed with the federal Office for Civil Rights alleges a pattern of bias in the Marietta City School System.

Retired teacher Ken Sprague Sr. joins the Cobb County Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP in submitting the complaint.  They allege bias in hiring, staffing and promotions, especially at Marietta High School.

"You can walk through the halls even today and see many segregated classrooms," Sprague tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  "Over the years, they have allowed a small percentage of black students into International Baccalaureate programs, but it still isn't nearly representative of the district's demographics."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports under 20 percent of the student body is white, yet all district superintendents have been white and six of seven current school board members are white.

Ben Williams, president of the Cobb County SCLC chapter, says the catalyst for this complaint was the removal of Marietta High School's first black principal in May.

"That was the match," Williams tells the AJC.  He believes Forrestella Taylor's reassignment was racially motivated.

More than a thousand Marietta city residents have signed a petition to reinstate Taylor.

A news conference at Marietta City Schools' district headquarters today spells out the complaint.  School system officials tell the AJC, they have not seen it and have no comment.