The Cobb County School District is looking for a new director of one of its magnet programs months after former students said they were verbally abused by staff members.
Frank Timmerman is no longer leading the Cobb County Center for Excellence in Performing Arts, which is housed at Pebblebrook High School, the district said.
Principal Dr. Dana Giles said in a letter written this week that the school is grateful for Timmerman’s work over the years and “proud of Pebblebrook’s national successes and our CCCEPA alumni.” Giles said she, Assistant Principal Randall Schlanger and other CCCEPA team member will oversee the program until a new director is hired.
Giles said the school district will conduct a national search for a new director, and CCCEPA students, parents and stakeholders will be surveyed about what qualities they’d like to see in a replacement and the future of the program.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reached out to Timmerman, but he did not respond to a request for comment. According to his LinkedIn profile, he began his tenure as director of the program in August 1993.
The Cobb school district has six magnet programs that accepts applications from students within the system. CCCEPA students take their core classes at Pebblebrook and magnet classes at the Center.
A Cobb County School District spokeswoman said the system is proud of the work Giles and staff are doing with leading the program in the interim.
“Our community is a true partner in this program, and we look forward to parent and community input to find the very best candidate who will be able to keep CCCEPA and Cobb County as a national leader in the performing arts,” she said.
Timmerman’s departure comes five months after dozens of former students accused staff members at the center of bullying and harassment. One former student, 2018 graduate Sydney Rudd, told Channel 2 Action news that alleged abuse at the school included “name calling, body shaming (and) not allowing people to be called by their own names.” She also accused the former director of turning a blind eye to abuse conducted by staff.
According to the school’s website, the program has 340 students enrolled and 83 graduates in 2020. Since opening in the 1980s, nearly 70 Broadway shows have featured CCCEPA alumni.
Jennifer Wilkes, whose daughter, Jordan, graduated in 2015 from the program, said Timmerman’s work extends beyond Georgia. For example, the director of the musical theater program at Oklahoma City University where her daughter enrolled after high school knew about the CCCEPA’s reputation of producing performers who go on to excel in their careers.
“He made my daughter the performer she is today,” she said.
Wilkes said she’s “disgusted and saddened” by the former director’s departure. She also said she has heard from numerous parents who fear that the program “will never be the same” now that Timmerman is gone.
“He lived for those kids and for everyone involved in that program,” she said.
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