DeKalb schools to replace highly-paid administrator despite deficit

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County school district, which recently gave its superintendent a $15,000 raise, is advertising to replace a $163,900-a-year administrator while teacher pay cuts are being considered to balance the budget.

The district posted the deputy superintendent of teaching and learning position while the school system is in a hiring freeze and considering a 5 percent teacher pay cut to offset an $88 million deficit.

“There is still a freeze for all positions other than those deemed to be critical. This is a replacement for the existing deputy of instruction who has given notice,” board chairman Thomas Bowen said Monday.

The deputy superintendent job is deemed critical because that person is responsible for providing instructional support to all schools, Bowen said.

But at a time when the district is forced to slash programs and staff pay, bringing in a highly paid administrator seems unnecessary, board member Eugene Walker said.

“I would certainly hope he [Superintendent Crawford Lewis] would collapse that position with some other employees given this budget crunch,” Walker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I have not been consulted about that, but my hope is we will not hire anyone else because of this budget situation.”

The district also posted openings for 32 teachers, two bus drivers, three cafeteria workers, a psychologist, a paraprofessional and a nurse.

"The administration has deemed the posted positions to be necessary for the effective operation of the school district," said Dale Davis, the superintendent's spokesman. "They are not a part of the hiring freeze."

Last month, Lewis proposed cutting pre-kindergarten classes, Montessori programs, magnet schools and other programs, along with teacher pay. Those cuts were to help with a $56 million deficit.

Then last week, the district learned that the deficit had grown to $88 million as tax revenue dropped, Walker said. He is calling for a tax increase.

Reached at her home Monday, Gloria Talley, current deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said she submitted her resignation effective June 30 to take a job as chief academic officer in Lexington, S.C.

“I’ve enjoyed my five years [in DeKalb], but I need to be closer to my family in Charleston,” she said.

Former school employee Karon Edge-Fitzpatrick said she doesn’t understand why the district would need to bring in another administrator.

“If you tell me there is no one in your staff who can fill that position, then anyone who reported to Gloria Talley needs to go,” said Edge-Fitzpatrick, a mother of five. “I feel that sends the same message that Dr. Lewis has sent consistently: the trust is broken and he has an agenda that does not put first the people on the front line who are educating children.”

Last week, teachers and parents -- including Fitzpatrick – asked Lewis to give back his $15,000 raise, which the school board approved in January. The increase brings his salary to $255,000.

The Organization of DeKalb Educators, which represents about 4,700 employees, has held at least three protests, criticizing Lewis’ raise.

Lewis has said his raise is justified because he lost $35,000 in pay, raises and bonuses last year.

DeKalb – the state’s third-largest school system – spends about $2.5 million on salaries for the superintendent and his cabinet, which includes four chiefs, three deputy superintendents and nine assistant superintendents, according to records with the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. That does not include their benefits and travel accounts, or two other top administration positions that are vacant.

DeKalb County Schools' top administrator salaries (does not include benefits or travel allowance):

Superintendent Crawford Lewis: $255,000

Chief of staff Alice Thompson: $124,049

Deputy chief superintendent of operations Robert Moseley: $165,035

Chief operations officer Pat Pope: $194,850*

Deputy chief superintendent of business operations Ramona Tyson: $165,035

Deputy superintendent of school administration: vacant

Deputy superintendent of teaching and learning Gloria Talley: $165,035

Chief human resources officer Jamie Wilson: $165,035

Chief financial officer Marcus Turk: $165,035

Associate superintendent of instructional transition Wendolyn Bouie: salary unavailable

Associate superintendent of support services Tim Freeman: $124,049

Associate superintendent of support services Felicia M. Mitchell: $125,284

Associate superintendent of teaching and learning: vacant

Area assistant superintendent Beth Heckman: $117,729

Area assistant superintendent Terry Segovis: $122,195

Area assistant superintendent Debra White: $122,195

Area assistant superintendent Ralph Simpson: $122,195

Area assistant superintendent Horace Dunson: $122,195

Area assistant superintendent Ken Bradshaw: $110,827

Source: Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts

*Pope was removed as chief operations officer while the district attorney investigates allegations of wrongdoing, but she continues to receive her salary.