Thursday, May 9, 2013
This week's news that millions have been found in DeKalb's school budget begs the question: where should the money go? Patch wants your opinion.
Talk about a nice problem to have. DeKalb school officials this past weekend came across $21 million in previously overlooked revenue - news that interim school superintendent Michael Thurmond shared with "stunned" school board members Monday. Thurmond also said another $7 million in unaccounted revenue in the current fiscal year was discovered. So, if you were running DeKalb's school board, where would you spend the money? Teacher pay raises, or hiring more teachers? Better classroom technology? Paying down those legal fees the board's suspended members racked up at taxpayer expense? Or paying down the system's $15 million deficit? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below. See Also: Questions Arise After School Board Millions …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The new members will be sworn in at 1 pm on Wednesday.
Gov. Nathan Deal announced six new DeKalb school board members on Wednesday morning: Deal announced that the new school board members will be sworn into office at 1 pm on Wednesday afternoon at the DeKalb Board of Education offices. “I have reminded these individuals that we were brought to these circumstances because of issues of governance,” Deal said. “I have implored they work together cooperatively. I’ve also reminded them that we have a new school superintendent and I have every confidence that he will lead the school system forward.” Deal said he examined whether to reinstate any of the six suspended board members, but decided “it would be best to enter into this new process with a clean slate.” Deal also said Interim School …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Think you can do a better job than the current school board members? You have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to apply for consideration.
The nominating panel that Gov. Nathan Deal assembled has begun accepting applications for candidates to fill the seats of suspended members of the DeKalb County Board of Education. Those seats include District 3, which covers the Avondale Estates area. It is represented by Sarah Copelin-Wood, though a federal judge ruled Monday to uphold Deal's authority to remove her and other board members. Applicants should send the following information to dekalbschoolboardnominations@georgia.gov: The panel will accept applications until March 6 at 5 p.m. Related articles:
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Gov. Deal had called a Monday press conference, announcing whether or not he would suspend six members of the DeKalb Board of Education.
A federal judge has issued a restraining order that prevents the suspension of six DeKalb school board officials by Gov. Nathan Deal. Over the weekend, Judge Richard Story issued the order, according to Channel 2 Action News. The order does not prevent Deal from suspending the school board members, but does prohibit their actual suspension until a hearing is convened on Friday. Deal had scheduled a Monday news conference to announce whether he was suspending six members of the DeKalb school board. After a 14-plus-hour meeting on Thursday, the State Board of Education voted to recommend that Deal remove six members of the DeKalb school board. The board voted unanimously to recommend that Sarah Copelin-Wood, Donna Edler, Eugene Walker, Jay …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Replay Patch's live coverage of Thursday's marathon hearing.
The State Board of Education voted late Thursday night to recommend the removal of six members of the DeKalb School Board to Gov. Nathan Deal. The board voted unanimously to recommend that Sarah Copelin-Wood, Donna Edler, Eugene Walker, Jay Cunningham, Nancy Jester and Pamela Speaks be removed from the DeKalb school board. If Gov. Deal follows the board's recommendation, Jim McMahan, Marshall Orson and Melvin Johnson would remain on the board as newly elected members. The recommendation came after a meeting that began at 8 am and ended at 10:15 pm. The meeting was the latest in the DeKalb school system's ongoing battle to avoid losing its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools, which has already placed the …
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Contentious meeting yields "a budget we can work with."
The DeKalb County Board of Education now has an $8.3 million reserve fund, following a heated debate Thursday evening at the district's headquarters in Stone Mountain. The final vote on the new budget was 5-4. The board faced an $85 million budget deficit. "It was a hard decision. There were hard choices across the board," said DeKalb School System spokesman Walter Woods. "We've been deliberating for weeks, and now we have a budget we can work with." The main points of the budget are: "If this is what they can do to operate the budget, we still have to put the children first," said Lucinda O'Neal, a social studies teacher at Redan Middle School, where she's taught for at least ten years. "As an educator, I'm committed."
Friday, January 20, 2012
Mary Margaret Oliver is part of two committees that will be proposing new commission and school board maps.
State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, is playing a major role in this year’s efforts to redraw DeKalb County commission and school board districts. Oliver is a member of two House DeKalb caucus committees that will be proposing the new boundaries. She also hopes to reduce DeKalb’s school board from nine to seven members. Public hearings may be announced as soon as next week, as the committees begin the process of developing the new districts. Every decade, after the U.S. Census is completed, state governments, or an independent body, make changes to district lines at every level. This means, a citizen who lived in one county commission or school board district last year may live in another district after the boundaries have been …
Road Scholar
8:51 am on Sunday, May 12, 2013
Put it in a rainy day fund that cannot be touched w/o public hearings. Can anyone tell us how much the lawsuits by past board members will cost? I don't think so...if we have to pay them and their lawyers. Wait until next year to see if there is another surplus and how much. more ›