School will pay more to defend former superintendent

Former DeKalb County schools superintendent Crawford Lewis will get more legal protection from taxpayers.

With no discussion Monday, the school board voted 5-3 to waive a $100,000 cap on Lewis’ expenses in connection with a lawsuit brought by former contractor Heery/Mitchell. The joint venture was in charge of all school construction, and sued after it was fired by Lewis and the school board.

DeKalb did not reveal how much payments to law firm Goodman, McGuffey, Lindsey & Johnson will exceed the cap, though future fees must be approved monthly.