Special Coverage:
Community conversations about race, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice , page 7
Mike Brown
SERVING DEKALB, FULTON, GWINNETT, HENRY AND ROCKDALE COUNTIES
VOLUME 20 NUMBER 36
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Eric Garner
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Tamir Rice
black lives matter.
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DECEMBER 6, 2014
DeKalb schools’ chief to leave in June, will continue leadership at state level
eKalb County Public Schools’ Superintendent Michael Thurmond plans to leave his position in June, when his contract expires, to return to the nationally-known law firm for which he worked. He will, however, continue his leadership in education. Thurmond has accepted an appointment to Gov. Nathan Deal’s Education Advisory Board. Thurmond will join 13 other school superintendents and education leaders including principals, teachers and school board members from around the state. The appointments were announced Dec. 2. “I am honored to serve on the Governor’s Education Advisory Board and I take seriously the Governor’s mandate to help our state continue to strive for educational excellence,” said Thurmond. “The DeKalb County School District has made significant progress in addressing critical issues facing Georgia public education from fiscal management, academic growth and achievement, school safety, diversity, and poverty.”
On Jan. 7, 10 a.m., Thurmond and other education leaders will convene on Jan. 7 at the State Capitol for a meeting with the governor and his staff to provide input education on education policy issues facing the state. “I applaud Gov. Deal for including our Superintendent in a broad cross-section of education leaders from around the state to offer first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing Georgia’s public school system,” said Dr. Melvin Johnson, Chair of the DeKalb County Board of Education. Thurmond will return to work as an attorney at the law firm Butler Wooten & Fryhofer, a nationallyknown civil trial practice firm that has four times set the record civil jury verdict in the State of Georgia and also obtained for its client the largest collected judgment in U.S. history. Thurmond took leave from the firm in February 2013 when he was appointed interim superintendent of the DeKalb School System. Some of Thurmond’s achievements since taking over the
DeKalb welcomes Christmas celebrations Christmas lights, carols, Santa Claus and fireworks were a part of Christmas tree lighting celebrations in Decatur and Clarkston. In Decatur, District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson hosted the Seventh Annual Community Tree Lighting. Along with refreshments and a creative land of gingerbread, attendees enjoyed performances from the Atlanta Young Singers, Lou Walker Senior Center choir, the McClendon Performing Arts Institute and other local acts. The City of Clarkston welcomed St. Nick in style on a fire truck and with fireworks. Before the city’s tree lighting, attendees enjoyed performances by Clarkston First Baptist Church praise dancers, local choirs and even bongo players who drummed Christmas favorites like “Feliz Navidad.” District 4 DeKalb Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton and DeKalb Community Development Department Chris Morris were in attendance as well.
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DeKalb’s superintendent search to get under way New board members to be sworn in By Valerie J. Morgan
DeKalb County Schools’ Superintendent Michael Thurmond
school system include: eliminating a $14 million deficit and creating a $40 million reserve fund with no tax increase; Improving school safety; establishing three of the district’s four STEM certified schools including the first STEM middle school in the state; placing three elementary schools in the top 25 of the state’s more than 2,000 elementary schools for academic achievement; and Improving graduation rates by more than five percentage points over two years.
The DeKalb School District soon will begin its search to replace Michael Thurmond as superintendent, and the process will be transparent for the public, Board Chairman Melvin Johnson has promised. “Nobody who wants to be a part of the process will be left out. All of the information will be available on the school district’s web site every step of the way,” said Johnson. Johnson said school board members will discuss the search process on Monday, Dec. 8, during a committee meeting. The search firm that eventually will be selected will oversee the process for getting input on the desired candidate from community stakeholders, business leaders, principals, teachers and others, Johnson said. Meanwhile, the newly-elected school board members went through orientation this week. A swearing-in ceremony for all seven of the newly-elected board members will be on Monday, Jan. 5, 5 p.m., at the School Board headquarters, 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard, Stone Mountain. The new board’s first business meeting will be Monday, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.
Photos by Joshua Smith /OCG News