STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Members of the DeKalb County School Board will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. to decide whether to hire Dr. Cheryl Atkinson as the new superintendent.
She has the support of a majority of board members, and she's gaining support from parents after a frank question and answer session over the weekend.
"Dr. Atkinson said a lot of good things," said Gil Hearn, head of the newly-formed group called Parents for DeKalb Schools. "The important thing to realize is that for her to implement her vision, the board needs to back her 100 percent."
In a Saturday morning meet-and-greet session with DeKalb County parents, Dr. Atkinson promised to turn the district around, beginning with a top-to-bottom review within her first 90 days on the job.
She also promised better communication, announcing plans to organize "fireside chats" with principals, teachers and parents.
"I'm also going to be in the schools," Atkinson said. "You can't run effectively a school district from behind the desk. I want to see first hand what's going on in our schools."
Dr. Atkinson is the only finalist for superintendent. If approved by the board on Monday, her contract would pay $275,000 a year. She would start in mid-September.
Dr. Atkinson has drawn criticism from two school board members, Nancy Jester and Don McChesney. Some parents have also questioned the fact that her district in Lorain, Ohio, is more than 10 times smaller than DeKalb and did not make Adequate Yearly Progress in 2009-2010.
But many parents at Saturday's meeting seemed impressed with their future leader.
"I think Dr. Atkinson's directness is refreshing," said parent Sherry King, adding that Atkinson's commitment to engaging parents is "just what the district needs."
For Orrin Hudson, a father of two DeKalb County students, Dr. Atkinson's presentation was enough to change his mind.
"Initially I thought they may have made a bad decision because they needed someone with more experience," he said. "But after further review, now that I know a little bit more about her and her ability to communicate, I believe they made a brilliant move."
DeKalb has been without a permanent superintendent for a year and a half. The former superintendent, Dr. Crawford Lewis, is facing criminal charges for running a criminal enterprise using the system's construction money.
29 Aug, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNECzP1TRXM1vcjV_ItOYrQ4Y3N0zg&url=http://www.11alive.com/news/article/203290/40/DEKALB-School-board-ready-to-hire-superintendent
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