DeKalb County’s top pick for its new school superintendent comes from one of Ohio’s worst performing districts, according to state data.
Cheryl H.L. Atkinson is the latest nominee to lead Georgia’s third- largest school system, which has struggled with academic shortfalls and turmoil at the top.
Two of DeKalb’s nine school board blasted Atkinson’s selection for the $275,000-a-year job -- announced at 11 p.m. Friday -- via emails over the weekend. Board Chairman Tom Bowen said Monday that while Atkinson currently is at a “challenged” district, she has produced academic improvements in each of her four years there.
Board members Don McChesney and Nancy Jester said that is not persuasive.
“It is not possible for me to support this choice based on the record,” wrote McChesney in his letter over the weekend. “We had several candidates with better records of student achievement.”
Lorain City Schools, the 7,600-student district Atkinson has led since 2007, is on “academic watch,” the second lowest rating a school system in Ohio can earn and one given to only 10 districts in 2009-2010, the last year schools were rated. Only one district, Youngstown, ranked worse -- “academic emergency.”
A new report on Lorain’s performance is due Aug. 24 and could show improvement, Ohio officials said.
Jester agreed with McChesney in an email to constituents.
“We have serious student achievement issues in DeKalb,” she wrote, adding “I do not see anything in Dr. Atkinson’s record with her current district that convinces me she will be able to move our district in the right direction.”
Neither Jester nor McChesney returned calls Monday.
Atkinson, a recent finalist for superintendent jobs in Cleveland, Ohio and Atlanta, also didn’t respond to a request for an interview. In a statement to Ohio’s The Morning Journal, Atkinson said she has led improvements. She said she has helped raise graduation rates from 75 percent to 84 percent, successfully opened new state-of-the-art elementary and middle schools, reorganized departments to achieve better efficiencies and garnered full-tuition scholarships for high school graduates exceeding $7 million.
DeKalb board member Eugene Walker strongly defended the selection of Atkinson, who is now under a 14-day review period before the board can formally offer her a job. The board has not yet scheduled a meeting to discuss and vote on the matter.
“If you look her record, the facts are clear,” Walker said. “She has delivered strong academic improvements. This lady was hired repeatedly to turn schools around, and she has done exactly that.”
Walker noted Atkinson previously had top jobs in other challenged school districts including Charlotte, N.C., and Kansas City, Mo.
“Each year she had been in a district, she has made progress,” he said. “I was very impressed with her. I can tell you that the board is very secure in its selection.”
Three previous candidates for the job bowed out after negotiations were leaked to the press and amid discord on the board. All three previous candidates, like Atkinson, steered districts of less than 10,000 students.
Lorain, near Cleveland, has 18 schools including one high school and four alternative schools. Just over 85 percent of its students are classified as economically disadvantaged.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, Lorain was on “academic watch” in 2009-2010 and 2008-2009, having fallen a notch to five on the state’s six-point scale, with six being the lowest. In 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, the system had the state’s fourth rating, called “continuous improvement.”
Lorain School Board President Tony Dimacchia has supported Atkinson. He said Monday that turning around the district’s academic performance was not an overnight process, but that Atkinson had made progress.
“I wish there was something we could do to keep her,” Dimacchia said.
But Joyce Early, a school board candidate and former teacher who runs a website calling attention to the Lorain district’s troubles, said Atkinson “didn’t fix anything” despite being hired as game-changer.
Gil Hearn, who has two children in DeKalb and is the founder of a new watchdog group Parents for DeKalb Schools, criticized Atkinson’s selection.
“I’m certain that there were more qualified candidates for the job,” he said. “Where are they? We are relying on DeKalb leaders to bring us someone who can help avert this ongoing failure.”
DeKalb has until Oct. 31 to fix a litany of issues -- including hiring a new superintendent -- or face sanctions from the accrediting agency. Its last permanent school chief, Crawford Lewis, was indicted for allegedly running a criminal enterprise involving more than $80 million in school construction money.
About the Author
