Steve Knudsen will serve as chair of the Gwinnett County school board for the next year, and Karen Watkins will be the vice chair.

The board voted on its leadership at its meeting Thursday. Both votes were split, reflecting ongoing disagreements, but members pledged to work collaboratively and serve students and staff as best they can.

The board has frequently split on votes and various decisions, with Knudsen, Watkins and Mary Kay Murphy typically in the majority. Divides over revisiting policies about equity and the board’s role in setting requirements for the hiring process have lasted over several meetings.

Knudsen, who served as vice chair the past two years, indicated that the board needed to find compromise. “We’ve got to, at some point in time, figure out where we can give and where can we take,” he said. “(We) can’t have it all or nothing and achieve consensus.”

Tarece Johnson-Morgan served as chair for the past two years, and she was the lone vote against Knudsen. Johnson-Morgan nominated Adrienne Simmons for the role and also nominated Simmons to be vice chair. Watkins won that vote 3-2.

“I think the board is operating in status quo,” Johnson-Morgan said later in the meeting while explaining her votes. She said the majority of the board is making incremental change rather than addressing systemic problems. Watkins has said she supports work on equity, but she also wants the board to buy in fully before taking on policy changes.

Voting blocs within the board have shifted over the past year, mainly Watkins voting more often with Knudsen and Murphy on split decisions.

That bloc notably crosses former party lines.

Although the board is a nonpartisan body — thanks to legislation enacted in 2022 — most board members were previously elected as a member of a political party: Murphy and Knudsen as Republicans and Johnson-Morgan and Watkins as Democrats. Simmons initially sought a Democratic nomination for school board, but state legislation made the race nonpartisan during the campaign.

Board members praised Johnson-Morgan’s leadership while referencing disagreements over the past year. Knudsen, Murphy and Watkins each said that the discussion has made them stronger board members.

Johnson-Morgan said, “Although our votes are different, it doesn’t mean we’re dysfunctional. ... Even if we disagree, we will continue to advocate the way we know best.”

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres