DeKalb schools regain full accreditation

Immediately, DeKalb County School District officials began rattling off a list of moves made to address accrediting firm AdvancED’s concerns about the struggling district.

Atop the list, school board chairman Melvin Johnson said, was hiring Steve Green, a superintendent known for his work in curriculum and instruction, where DeKalb lacked.

“One thing (AdvancED president Mark Elgart) asked us to do was deal with sustainability of the board and instruction,” Johnson said. “I truthfully feel when we focused on going out and getting an instructional superintendent, that really helped us gain our accreditation. I’m elated, first of all, for the news. I thank the superintendent. I thank the former superintendent (Michael Thurmond), our stakeholders, staff for working diligently to actually do what AdvancED asked us to do.”