The top deputy to Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall has been named a lone finalist to lead the suburban DeSoto Independent School District in Texas.

Kathy Augustine, Atlanta's deputy superintendent for instruction, came to the city system in 2000 to help Hall reform the academically troubled school system. She met largely with success, although some of those gains have now been called into question amid ongoing test cheating investigations.

Nevertheless, DeSoto school board President Dee Trimble lauded Augustine's "strategic vision, outstanding knowledge of curriculum and instruction and enthusiasm," according to a statement released by the Texas district. The DeSoto board is expected to officially hire Augustine after a mandatory 21-day waiting period. Her departure would coincide with that of Hall, who has announced she will step down June 30 after a 12-year tenure.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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