Dekalb County School Stories

A list of the most recent stories about Dekalb County School.

250 items

Results 1 - 20 of 250next >

Former Deklab County Schools COO Pat Reid was in court Friday with her attorney Tony Axum for pre-trail motions. Reid along with her ex-husband Tony Pope and former DeKalb County school Superintendent Crawford Lewis are in court for pre-trial motions before their trail begins later this month.

750 jurors summoned for racketeering trial of former DeKalb School superintendent and others

Around 750 summonses have been sent in hopes of finding 12 jurors and four alternates to hear the upcoming racketeering trial of former DeKalb County School Superintendent Crawford Lewis, the district’s one-time chief operating officer Pat Reid and her ex-husband Tony Pope. On Friday, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker ...

DeKalb County schools superintendent might stay longer

The interim superintendent of schools in DeKalb County may stay in the job after his contract expires in February. Michael Thurmond and the school board chairman confirmed they have been negotiating an extension of his tenure for several weeks. The talks are going well, they say. The district has little ...

DeKalb interim superintendent may stay longer

The DeKalb County School District chief could lose the word “interim” from his title.Members of the county school board have been discussing an extension of Michael Thurmond’s contract that would amend his title to just “superintendent.”School board Chairman Melvin Johnson said he and the vice chairman have been negotiating with ...

Hire a county manager

Since leaving the DeKalb County School Board in January — with some help from voters — I have made a concerted effort to withhold comment on public policy, especially in my home county. Recent discussion is causing me to break that silence.Our public servants and leaders in county government, elected ...

DeKalb school debt downgraded

Moody’s Investors Service is becoming more skeptical about DeKalb County School District bonds, with downgrades that will likely increase the cost of borrowing. The bond-rating agency dropped its rating of $33 million in sales tax supported general obligation bonds (from Aa3 to A1) and certificates of participation affecting $102 million ...

Q&A on the News

Q: When will the new “Doonesbury” cartoons appear in newspapers? —John Williams, DecaturA: Cartoonist Garry Trudeau has pushed the return of “Doonesbury” to Nov. 18, about 10 weeks past the originally scheduled return of Labor Day because he has “hit the wall,” he said last week in a release. Trudeau ...

COLLEGE PARK Fourth graders Regan Lloyd (left) and Makenzie Thompson use exercise bands in a program after school at Stonewall Tell Elementary School. Stonewall’s exercise program is not new, but they just won a gold award from the state for their efforts to get kids moving and be healthy. KENT D. JOHNSON / KDJOHNSON@AJC.COM

Schools find a way to boost exercise

As the school year neared a close last April, top state officials issued an urgent plea to add 30 minutes of exercise into the school day. In a joint letter — sent to superintendents across the state — State Superintendent John Barge and Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Brenda ...

DeKalb school board refuses to fund doctoral program for eight administrators

A new school board in DeKalb County has a new philosophy on taxpayers paying for doctoral programs for administrators: No.Eight DeKalb school administrators began a three-year doctoral program last year, with taxpayers covering the first year’s expense of $135,000 with funds from the district’s federal Race to the Top education ...

Thurmond says helping economically challenged students has to be priority

Interim DeKalb County School Superintendent Mike Thurmond wants to bring back graduation coaches in the district’’s lowest-performing middle and high schools. It’s part of a plan unveiled Monday night that Thurmond said will better target the district’s federal funding to help the 70 percent of DeKalb students classified as economically ...

New indictment means smaller case against former DeKalb school superintendent and others

Former DeKalb County School Superintendent Crawford Lewis, his former chief operating officer and her ex-husband are facing a third version of a racketeering case first brought against them more than three years ago, but now there are fewer charges, fewer schools and fewer taxpayer dollars involved and two names have ...

Best in class for Sept. 6

Benefield Elementary School and the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology are finalists for the 2013 Georgia STEM Education Awards, according to the Technology Association of Georgia. The two Gwinnett County schools were selected from more than 170 applicants, according to the TAG Education Collaborative.The high school was recognized ...

LEDE PHOTO: August 20, 2013 - Atlanta, Ga: Matthew Lewis, left, speaks about the Druid Hills Charter Cluster as President of the Druid Hills Civic Association Justin Critz, right, listens during a Druid Hills town hall meeting at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church Tuesday night in Atlanta, Ga., August 20, 2013. Matthew Lewis is leading a revolution of sorts: he's the main guy behind what could become the first charter school "cluster" in Georgia. JASON GETZ / JGETZ@AJC.COM

A new approach to school governance

They have children and grandchildren, and expertise in education, finance and law. They are white and black, men and women. Some can jog to their neighborhood schools and others live miles away.What this disparate group of charter school pioneers has in common is dissatisfaction with the reigning model of public ...

FROM THE PREP ZONE BLOGS ON AJC.COM

Class AAAAAA Gainesville’s state championship in 2012 removed an unwelcome title for the Red Elephants. They had won more GHSA region titles (27) without a state title than any other program. Now that distinction belongs to McEachern, with 15. With a 2-0 start and a top-five state ranking, the Indians ...

Brandon Barnes, 25, has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting at Underground Atlanta late Monday afternoon, Aug. 12, 2013.

Police tell court suspect admitted to fatal shooting in phone call

Brandon Barnes admitted fatally shooting someone in Underground Atlanta on Aug. 12 during a call he made on an Atlanta police detective’s cellphone following his arrest, the investigator testified Tuesday. From the police interrogation room, Barnes made his first phone call over a speaker phone. “ ‘I killed that guy. ...

REUNITED AFTER SCHOOL SHOOTING INCIDENT--August 20, 2013, DeKalb County: LaTrease Akins rushes off hugging her 5-year-old son Mark Wheeler on Tuesday afternoon August 20, 2013 after being reunited following the shooting incident at McNair Discovery Learning Academy. Akins was next headed to get her first-grader, who was on a different bus from the school. BEN GRAY / BGRAY@AJC.COM

DeKalb school shooting spurs fresh debate on dollars vs. security

Door locks and security cameras in working order? Check.Intrusion alarm operational? Yes.And, crucially, the staff at the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy had trained for intruder alerts, according to the school’s state-mandated safety plan.Despite all the preparation and security hardware, though, a man with an AK-47 type rifle got ...

Good over evil

What could have been one of our worst days was miraculously transformed into one of our best days. A day that could have borne witness to yet another senseless school rampage turned into an inspiring day that spotlighted the heroics of our school personnel, the calmness and resilience of our ...

A Decatur church honored bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff for helping avert a tragedy during the McNair school shooting.

Employee honored for heroism in McNair shooting

A school bookkeeper is being honored for her heroic actions during a standoff and shooting last week at a DeKalb County school. Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach went to Sunday service at The Way The Truth and The Life Christian Center on Miller Street in Decatur, where Antoinette Tuff received a ...

When cool heads prevail

A young woman battling addiction. A firefighter just “doing his job.” A famous rapper following his gut. Like McNair Academy bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff — who last week helped talk a heavily armed gunman who had stormed into the DeKalb County school into surrendering — they showed uncommon grace under fire. ...

At DeKalb school, the ordinary now extraordinary after shooting

The school day at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy started off Thursday like any other. Yellow buses filed in front of the school beneath sun-soaked blue August skies, cars dropped off red-polo-clad students and parents on foot escorted their children, hand-in-hand, into the building. But neither Thursday nor the ...

McNair students returning to school Thursday morning

Ronald E. McNair Learning Academy staff worked through the night, preparing the school to welcome back students Thursday morning to the campus they fled Tuesday after a gunman slipped into the building and terrorized the DeKalb County school. No one was injured in the incident, but the 20-year-old suspect, Michael ...

250 items

Results 1 - 20 of 250next >