The DeKalb County Board of Education will vote on Wednesday about whether to hire superintendent finalist Devon Horton.
The board announced that it will meet at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the district office and go into a closed-door session, where it’s allowed to discuss personnel and legal issues privately. All votes must be taken publicly. A district spokesman said Monday the board would vote on the superintendent finalist at that meeting, after the closed-door session.
The vote will cap off a two-week period of public input in the district, where local and national critics weighed in on the board’s sole finalist.
Some have concerns about Horton’s professional history. He currently leads a smaller Illinois school district and has been criticized for steps he’s taken to achieve equity for all students. Others, including some on the board, support interim Superintendent Vasanne Tinsley for the permanent role. Still others are urging the district to move forward by making a change.
But one thread has remained the same throughout the process: People are asking the board for consistency. If hired, Horton would be the ninth leader in DeKalb since 2010.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Lee May, a pastor at Transforming Faith Church and a former DeKalb County commissioner and CEO, asked the board for stability at a Monday meeting.
“We encourage you to look at it through the lens of consistent leadership that is going to be here with us, I believe, through the next decade,” he told board members.
Representatives from the DeKalb NAACP, which rallied before Monday’s school board meeting and at a town hall meeting with Horton last week, urged the board to support whoever they hire.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“Whoever they pick, (we’re asking that they) give them the time, the resources and the support they need to be successful for our children,” said DeKalb NAACP President Lance Hammonds. “And that has not happened over the last three hires.”
The board hired Tinsley as interim superintendent about a year ago after firing Cheryl Watson-Harris in a split vote. Watson-Harris had been on the job for less than two years. She was hired after the board announced Rudy Crew as its finalist, but ultimately voted not to hire him. Crew was awarded $750,000 in a settlement after he sued the district for discrimination based on race and age.
Success, Hammonds said, could be measured by how many teachers and families with children choose to move to DeKalb.
But Eleshia Cash, the leader of the education forum of the DeKalb Pastors Christian Alliance, urged the board to embrace change.
“Change is good,” she said. “We’re not looking for basic. We’re not looking for a warm body. We need someone to come in, roll their sleeves up and do the job of leading this district forward.”
Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods late last week took the unusual step of weighing in on the local issue, urging the board in a letter to hit pause on the superintendent hiring process. He specifically praised Tinsley for helping stabilize the district. DeKalb is at a “critical juncture,” he wrote, and she needs time to get the district on “solid footing.”
The board has publicly maintained support for Horton. Board Chair Diijon DaCosta wrote in a response to Woods that he appreciated the support, and that the board is “committed to making informed decisions that prioritize the best interests” of everyone in the district.
