Petition To Oust DeKalb School Board Gains Momentum
Brookhaven residents and students are among the almost 500 people who have signed an online petition. Take our Patch poll and tell us if you believe DeKalb's school board should be removed.
Brookhaven, GA – Less than two weeks after being placed on probation, the DeKalb County School Board is now the target of an online petition calling for their removal.
CBS Atlanta is reporting that the petition has already received more than 490 signatures, including some signees from Brookhaven and Chamblee.
"When I moved to Dekalb County in 1972 It was the place to be and now it is not," said one Brookhaven resident on the petition. A Chamblee resident wrote, "My kids are at Montgomery Elementary school. We have an excellent principal, great teachers, and a terrible board holding them back."
DeKalb resident Grace McKenna began the online petition, calling on Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to replace the entire school board.
On Dec. 17, the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools (SACS) placed the school board on probation until December 2013.
"There is significant and irrefutable evidence that the DeKalb County School District is in a state of conflict and chaos,” said SACS Chairman Dr. Mark Elgart. "This failure to govern effectively has resulted in a decline in student performance, financial mismanagement, and lack of integrity and ethics in recruiting, appointing and evaluating personnel at all levels of the school system."
The Georgia Department of Education must meet within 30 days of SACS report and make a recommendation to Gov. Deal on how to proceed. Under a new law, Deal has the authority to replace the school board.
Brookhaven Patch wants to know: do you believe the governor should replace DeKalb's school board? Take our Patch poll and share your opinion in the comments section below this article.
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Timothy Darnell
9:22 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
There is a link to the online petition in the article itself, but here's the complete URL -
http://www.change.org/petitions/georgia-governor-nathan-deal-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-board-2
HamBurger
10:51 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
It will be interesting to see if Rep. Mike Jacobs, Rep. Tom Taylor, and Sen. Fran Millar put their weight behind this movement as they did the creation of Brookhaven.
Please pass the yellow mustard!
Shawn Keefe
10:53 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Governor Deal should consider removing all DeKalb BOE members who have served in excess of one full term while at the same time he should strongly consider naming Nancy Jester as the new Chairwoman of the Board. She is the person who can right this ship and move it in the direction that best serves the students and taxpayers of DeKalb County.
dianne joy
11:15 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012
I totally agree. Jester was very instrumental in sharing the new school board district maps with the citizens and she has always seemed to be coming from the right place. Sadly, she is has only been one voice among the sorry excuse of the remaining members. I do hope that the 2 new members will exert some strength over those that need to be removed!
Betsy Parks
11:39 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
There are two petitions that need to remove the DCSS board. Please sign and share! Please take 30 seconds and join us. http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-nathan-deal-and-georgia-state-board-of-education-review-sacs-findings-if-accurate-replace-the-dekalb-county-school-board
Road Scholar
8:29 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012
You man that Gov Deal still has friends that have not been given government jobs!?
Road Scholar
8:30 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012
man should be mean...oops! Not enough coffee!
jMichael
9:24 am on Monday, December 31, 2012
Few, if any.
That sleazeball makes "Chicago" seem clean.