The Renfroe Middle School principal’s job is down to four candidates, City Schools Decatur Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said Wednesday. She’s interviewing each this week and hopes to announce the new principal at Tuesday’s school board meeting. Only one of the four is currently working within CSD.

Originally there were 37 candidates for the job previously held by Derrick Thomas, who resigned in May to become principal at Eagles Landing Middle School in Henry County.

Thomas and his predecessor Bruce Roaden, now the principal of the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue, combined to run the school for the last nine years. Before Roaden’s arrival in 2006, Renfroe had gone through five principals in five years.

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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