Education
Education

Georgia Supreme Court denies dismissal hearing for former principal

By Ty Tagami
Sept 25, 2014

A former DeKalb County principal fired after her school spent thousands of dollars buying copies of a book she wrote has lost her legal claim for a dismissal hearing.

Yvonne Butler was suspended in 2010 and ultimately lost her job after an investigation determined that multiple copies of a book she published through her own company were purchased by her school and by another school where her sister was principal. (The sister also lost her job.)

Butler was suspended from her post running Browns Mill Elementary, then demoted to a teaching position that she refused to accept. She sued for a hearing under Georgia’s Fair Dismissal Act, but the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week that she was not entitled to a hearing because she wasn’t a principal prior to 1995 when the General Assembly eliminated hearings for school administrators.

About the Author

Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.

Follow Ty Tagami on facebookFollow Ty Tagami on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Students put their cellphone in a box before heading to class at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Atlanta. The Georgia Department of Education wants lawmakers to expand a cellphone ban. (AJC file)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Georgia school cellphone ban should expand to high school, state ed leaders say

The Georgia Department of Education wants to ban cellphones in high schools too, not just K-8 classrooms.

Acting Dekalb superintendent gets salary bump, 1-year contract to ensure ‘stable leadership’

The contract, obtained via an open records request, doesn't mean Sauce will be the permanent superintendent of the DeKalb County School District.

Lovett School gets ‘historic’ $30 million gift from Rollins family

The gift honors the oldest child of Randall and Peggy Rollins, who died in 1970.

The Latest

Students put their cellphone in a box before heading to class at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Atlanta. The Georgia Department of Education wants lawmakers to expand a cellphone ban. (AJC file)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Georgia school cellphone ban should expand to high school, state ed leaders say

Acting Dekalb superintendent gets salary bump, 1-year contract to ensure ‘stable leadership’

Lovett School gets ‘historic’ $30 million gift from Rollins family

Featured

Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. (Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez

‘Worst nightmares come true.’ Atlanta confronts shift in homelessness funding.

Trump’s overhaul threatens permanent housing for an estimated 600 Atlanta households and 170,000 people nationwide, advocates warn.

Microsoft’s newest AI ‘superfactory’ opens at sprawling Fayetteville campus

One of the largest data center campuses under construction in Georgia has its first operational tenant, and it’s one of the most recognizable names in technology.

Atlanta officials quietly rebrand city’s DEI office

The city of Atlanta office overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion is getting a rebrand amid assaults at the federal level on such initiatives.