The stakes are high for whoever is picked to lead Georgia's third-largest school system and some parents and community leaders are wondering if any of the finalists for DeKalb's superintendent job are up to snuff.
Never mind the heavy lifting of handling DeKalb County Schools' $1.5 billion annual budget, 15,000 employees and nearly 100,000 students.
The system is facing an accreditation challenge, a $100 million lawsuit against a construction firm, and a damaged reputation after its former superintendent and others were charged with running a criminal enterprise in the school system.
The three finalists all come from school systems that are, at best, less than 9 percent of the size of DeKalb's system.
State Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, who chairs a legislative committee tasked with helping the school system keep its accreditation, is skeptical about the qualifications of the finalists.
"The first thing that jumped out at me is that all three of them come from small systems, minuscule in comparison," Jones said. "What was the board thinking? Are these the best who applied?"
The finalists announced earlier this week are: Gloria Davis of Decatur (Ill.) Public Schools with 8,700 students; Arthur R. Culver of Champaign (Ill.) Community School District No. 4 with 8,900 students; and Lillie M. Cox of Hickory (N.C.) Public Schools with less than 5,000 students.
"We need someone with experience running one of the largest school systems in the country," Jones said. "They have to hit the ground running. With everything we're facing, there's no time for on-the-job training."
But Tom Bowen, chairman of the DeKalb school board, said district size doesn't matter.
"We were looking for people with proven leadership ability, a track record of improving academic achievement and raw talent," Bowen said. "We think that's what we have here."
Bowen said more than 50 applicants were screened for the job and several of them came from school districts at or near the size of DeKalb's.
"We want proven success, not a magic number," Bowen said.
A meeting is scheduled for Thursday night at which the three finalists will be questioned in a public forum. After that, Bowen said that the board expects to make its decision in several weeks.
None of the candidates responded to inquiries by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution seeking comment. Earlier this week one of the candidates said they were all asked by the DeKalb board to refrain from comment until after Thursday's meeting.
Lynn Deutsch, who has two children in DeKalb's school system, said she plans to be at the meeting. She said she's concerned about the small districts the finalists are drawn from.
"I'm going to the meeting with an open mind," Deutsch said. "But I've got to say that I'm concerned about the finalists. I mean, are their management skills really transferable from such small districts? Have they delved into a situation where every decision can be political? Have any of them ever gotten a district out of anything like the troubles we're seeing?"
The past few years have been rocky for DeKalb schools. The district has until Oct. 31 to make major changes in its operation or risk national accreditation sanctions from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits more than 27,000 schools across the nation.
SACS started questioning DeKalb after former Superintendent Crawford Lewis, former chief operating officer Patricia Reid and two others were indicted last May on charges related to funneling millions of dollars worth of business to favored contractors.
DeKalb also has spent more than $15 million on a lawsuit against the Atlanta-based construction firm Heery International. The suit alleges fraud and mismanagement, and Heery is suing DeKalb, claiming unpaid invoices.
David Schutten, president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, said he's been hearing nonstop from members who say they, too, are skeptical about the qualifications of the candidates.
"We have a lot of problems here and I'm frankly surprised by the [board's] choices," Schutten said. "There's a lot to do and not a lot of time for someone to get up to speed. We have to get [students'] scores up. ... And, frankly, there's a big morale problem with the staff.
"I'm not saying that they're not qualified for the job, but there's a lot of work to do," he said.
Meet the candidates
The DeKalb County School System is holding a public forum at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Administration and Instructional Complex Auditorium at 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd., Stone Mountain. Each candidate for superintendent will have 50 minutes to introduce themselves and answer 10 written questions from the public. Questions must be submitted at the forum by 5:30 p.m.
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