Candidates for the DeKalb County school board are promising to rise above the bickering and push for quality education across the county.
The recent battle over a tight budget exposed how competition for dwindling resources can exacerbate divisions. Board members argued over cutbacks for magnet school busing, for instance, which proved controversial because more students on the county's largely black south side reportedly rely on buses.
"They say there is no distinction between north and south, and that's baloney," said Patricia Gripper, who believes her granddaughter's school, Stephenson High near Stone Mountain, has been neglected.
Twenty miles to the north, Jim Eyre, vice president of the Ashford Park Civic Association, thinks his neighborhood school has been shortchanged, too. Eight classroom trailers have been parked outside for a couple of years.
"To see the kids go to school every day in a tin can just drives me crazy," Eyre said.
Like many voters, they want school board members who will fight for them and drive more money and attention to their schools. Three incumbents and nine newcomers are vying for four open seats on July 31.
State lawmakers shortened the terms of these seats to two years so all nine seats on the board will be open in 2014 when the General Assembly is expected to execute a legal mandate to reduce its size by at least two members.
Here's a look at the candidates.
District 2 — west side, from Decatur to Peachtree Road
Don E. McChesney (incumbent): Elected in 2008, McChesney, 65, is a retired history teacher who taught in Atlanta and DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. He is married with no children and graduated from the DeKalb school system. He said he brings practical knowledge. "If we take all the teachers off the board, we will be in a lot of trouble," he said.
Marshall Orson: An attorney from Druid Hills, Orson, 52, left Turner Broadcasting to run his own consulting business. Married with two children, he is on the councils of Fernbank Elementary and Druid Hills Middle schools and is co-chairman of the Emory-LaVista Parent Council. The school board is "dysfunctional," he said, and should "coalesce around the vision of the superintendent." He is endorsed by eduKALB, a group linked to the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.
District 4 — east side, from Stone Mountain Highway to Chamblee and Doraville
James Tom Gilbert Jr.: A professional account sales associate with Home Depot, Gilbert, 68, is married and has two grandchildren attending DeKalb schools. He says he would bring common sense and expertise on construction costs to the board.
James P. Kinney III: A computer security engineer, Kinney, 49, is married with two children, one still in the DeKalb schools. He said teachers he knows complain about inadequate performance evaluations and "process and policy" from district administrators. He wants to serve on the board because he had good teachers as a child and wants the district to do better.
James L. McMahan: A residential loan originator, McMahan, 46, is married with two children, both in DeKalb schools. He serves on the councils of Henderson Middle and Sagamore Elementary schools and is a representative on the DeKalb County Council of PTAs. He sees a lack of "transparency" on the board and said he's concerned about financial and academic decline.
H. Paul Womack Jr. (incumbent): Elected in 2008, Womack, 78, also served four terms in the 1980s and early '90s. Married with a granddaughter in the school system, he is a retired business executive and has served on the boards of Georgia State University and DeKalb Community College. He wants to "see through the transition from a very questionable situation with finances and personnel."
District 6 — east side, from Stone Mountain Highway to Lithonia
Melvin Johnson: A former DeKalb schools deputy superintendent who retired in 2004, Johnson, 68, is married with four grown children, two of them graduates of DeKalb schools. He served on the boards of the Leadership Preparatory Academy charter school and the YMCA Academies, and he said he wants the whole community, including churches, to help the schools. "When we join forces together," he said, "I really feel like that will help."
Denise Etienne McGill: A consultant who previously worked in telecommunications project management, McGill, 51, is married with two children, one still in DeKalb schools. She has been president of Stephenson's parent-teacher-student association and a Girl Scout troop leader. "We need to get the buy-in from the public and gain the trust of the public," she said. She is endorsed by eduKALB.
Terrilyn Rivers-Cannon: A social worker with Atlanta Public Schools, Rivers-Cannon, 44, previously was a social worker and special education teacher in DeKalb. She is married with two children, one still attending DeKalb schools. She is running "to make a difference" and said as a school board member she would host informational lunches for parents.
Latasha Walker: A personal assistant and chef, Walker, 38, is a single mom with a daughter in DeKalb schools. She helped start a group called Advocates on Behalf of Children, which has lobbied the school district on issues such as bullying. She said the board doesn't question the school administration enough.
Super District 8 — east side, covering half the county from the northern county line to Lithonia
Michelle Jenkins-Clark: A former operations manager at a trucking company, Jenkins-Clark, 45, is married with two children in DeKalb schools. The school board should cultivate more parent involvement, she said. The board lacks "transparency," she said, especially when it comes to finances and meeting notices.
Pamela Speaks (incumbent): Elected in 2008, Speaks, 62, is a former DeKalb special education teacher who rose to district-level administrator before retiring in 2004. She is married with two children who graduated from DeKalb schools. She sees herself as a "voice of reason" on a board with a crucial mission: "If we can't have a decent school system , it will affect everything else." She is endorsed by eduKALB.
About the Author
