North Atlanta High School
Population: 1,233
Racial Makeup: 55 percent African American, 22 percent white, 16 percent Hispanic, 7 percent other.
Average SAT score: 1439
Superintendent Erroll Davis will meet with North Atlanta High School’s teachers, parents and students at 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the abrupt removal of several administrators.
Friday afternoon, security and school officials removed interim principal Mark MyGrant, assistant principal Melissa Gautreaux and three of the school’s academy leaders.
The district posted a letter on the school’s website saying that Howard Taylor of the Gwinnett County Public Schools has been hired as principal, starting Oct. 29, and that former Sarah Smith Elementary principal Sid Baker would serve in the interim. They haven’t given a reason for the upheaval. Eight central office administrators will also help with the transition, according to the letter.
The administration said Monday that the “transition in leadership that began last Friday is about preparing for our new principal, moving the school in a new direction and delivering an enhanced educational experience for all of our students.
The school was closed Monday for the federal holiday.
The school sits in Buckhead and is known for its International Baccaleureate program and performing arts programs. Since the administrators’ removal, students have started an online petition and several Facebook pages. They are planning a walkout on Wednesday at noon depending on what happens at Tuesday night’s meeting.
MyGrant said the removal dealt with charges of racism against two staff members he hired last year but didn’t go into details.
“I would be happy to ride off into the sunset. But with all these administrators, hard-working administrators, being reassigned, people are going to say ‘God, there must have been something really corrupt there,’” he told the AJC. “I owe it to them and myself to let people know there wasn’t anything.”
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