Fulton County Board of Education President Julia Bernath and two other long-serving members will not seek reelection this year.
The May 24 election will usher in a changing of the guard for the state’s fourth-largest school system. Four of the board’s seven nonpartisan seats will appear on the ballot. Only one of those races features an incumbent, according to a list of candidates who qualified for the election by Friday’s deadline.
In addition to Bernath, Katie Reeves, a board member since 1999, and Linda McCain, who joined the board in 2011, are not running again.
Bernath, in a written statement, called it “a pure joy to serve the students, staff and community of Fulton County Schools” since 2000. She said she’s “ready to start on my next journey in life.”
Credit: Fulton County Schools
Credit: Fulton County Schools
“I feel I will have left our school district in a good place when my term ends in December of 2022, and I am so proud of the accomplishments this district has made and where we are now,” she wrote. “I have such confidence in our superintendent and the leadership of our board, and I know they will only continue to keep Fulton County Schools a premier district in the country.”
Three candidates are seeking to replace Bernath to represent District 7, which includes Sandy Springs and portions of Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Roswell. The board hopefuls are Linda Arnold and Michelle Morancie of Atlanta and Phil Chen of Roswell.
Board Vice President Kimberly Dove, who joined the board in 2017, wants to retain her seat representing District 6, which includes parts of College Park, East Point, South Fulton and Union City. Dove will face challenger LaTonya Martin Rogers of East Point.
Credit: Fulton County Schools
Credit: Fulton County Schools
Reeves highlighted a number of district achievements during her more than two decade tenure, including opening more than 45 schools and lowering the property tax rate.
In an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she touted Fulton’s bond rating and high-performing schools and said the district is well served by Superintendent Mike Looney.
“My thanks go to all the stakeholders who help make us accountable … the students, the families, the teachers, our school based and administrative leaders and our taxpayers,” Reeves wrote. “School systems and schools reflect their communities, I am sure that there are terrific new leaders to take up where we leave off.”
Running for Reeves’ District 2 seat, which represents areas in Alpharetta and Milton, are Lillie Pozatek of Alpharetta and Brittany Griffin of Milton.
In District 5, the seat held by McCain that includes areas in Johns Creek and Alpharetta, Kristin McCabe and Kimberly Ware, both of Johns Creek, are running.
