For the third consecutive year Decatur has a new school board chairman.

Annie Caiola, was unanimously elected Tuesday night after getting nominated by Garrett Goebel, who was the 2015 chair. Caiola, in turn, nominated Goebel for co-chair and he was also unanimously elected.

Also on Monday Tasha White was sworn in as a new member. White, who defeated Thomas Desimone in November’s election, replaces Julie Rhame, the board’s senior-most member who retired after 11 years.

Caiola, 35, a trial attorney with Slotkin & Caiola in Decatur, has been on the board since Jan. 2014.

“One of my main goals,” she said, “is strengthening communication between the board and our stakeholders: students, parents and residents. We make a lot of decisions that go late into the night and are often made before a mostly-empty room. I think we need to find a better way of getting the message out.”

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com