Politics & Government

New proposal could downsize school board

Some municipalities could vote on the measure in November.

A bill introduced Friday in the General Assembly would give DeKalb voters the option of choosing a five-, seven- or nine-member school board.

While no county-wide elections are scheduled this year, the possiblity exists for voters residing in incorporated municipalities to vote for the option.

“DeKalb does have municipal elections this year, in its cities, and there could be other elections throughout the county as well,” said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), the school board bill’s sponsor. “I’m optimistic about our chances.”

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Ashford Park PTA President Diane Allers said she, too was optimistic about the possibilities of such a bill. While Allers said she hadn't reviewed the bill, the idea of downsizing could be beneficial.

"I think it will result in a more efficient school board," Allers said. "I believe that this would allow for the representation to realign with the attendance boundaries.  Currently many of the Ashford Park School attendees, who will feed into Chamblee High School, are in a different district, and cannot vote on issues that will have an effect on their future school. "

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Lawmakers have until Wednesday to get their bills out of committee before legislative crossover day, but locally oriented bills such as Oliver’s HB22 are not affected. Generally, bills must pass in either the House or Senate by crossover day or they are dead for the session.

Another local bill, Senate Bill 84, would create a code of ethics for the DeKalb school board, including the creation of an ethics commission to govern the body.

“This bill should be coming out of the Senate and moving over to the House in the next couple of days,” said Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), who is sponsoring the bill along with Sen. Jason Carter (D-Atlanta). “It’s definitely happening.”

The other sponsors of HB22 include: state Reps. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain); Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates); Stephanie Benfield (D-Atlanta); Mike Jacobs (D-Atlanta); and Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta).


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