DeKalb County Schools superintendent Cheryl Atkinson sent a letter dated Sept. 12 to the AdvancedED SACS accrediting agency in response to an inquiry SACS sent to the school district last month expressing “significant concern” that DeKalb may not be meeting two of five accreditation standards.
In her letter, Atkinson outlined 16 initiatives she’s taken since becoming superintendent less than a year ago to address budgetary, staffing and other issues. They include: a forensic audit of the district’s financial records by the outside accounting firm KPMG, which is still underway; restructuring of the central office, resulting in the elimination of 303 personnel; delivering a new curriculum in line with new common core standards, and establishing an internal legal affairs division to manage and reduce legal costs.
“We are working daily to make huge strides to sustain continuous improvement and to provide the best education possible for the students of DeKalb County,” Atkinson wrote. “Progress is ongoing and we have not stopped working on any concerns. Some issues may take longer than others to resolve, but we are continuously striving to achieve excellence on all SACS standards.”
In the Aug. 28 letter SACS accused members of the school board of overstepping their authority in some areas, such as hiring, while failing to exercise oversight over finances and other key responsibilities. SACS gave Dekalb 30 days to respond to the letter, which the school system received Aug. 29.
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