Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter Ponders Why We Should Keep the DeKalb BOE

Ten Top Reasons to Keep DeKalb Board of Education

By Viola Davis, RN BSN

The ten top reasons the citizens should keep the DeKalb Board of Education are as follows:

1 ?, 2 ?, 3 ?, 4 ?, 5?.  Wait; give me a little more time.  I am sure I will come up with at least one reason.  6 ?, 7 ?, 8?, 9 ?, 10 ?.  Well, at least I tried.  However, I am unable to come up with one reason especially when I place the needs of our children first and our accreditation second.

It’s time for us to come to the reality that our school system has been in crisis for far too long.  For parents who have children in school, we have complained for years about some of our neighborhood schools, lack of books, leaking roofs, etc. 

Now we are faced with the serious issue of losing our accreditation.  Yet, our Board of Education continues with the same excuses that interfere with the quality of education our children deserve.  Our teachers and school staff have gone over five years without raises or even a cost of living increase.  When will the crisis end and a high quality education begin?

The title of this article should not be the ten top reasons the citizens should keep the DeKalb Board of Education, but the top ten reasons the citizens should remove the DeKalb Board of Education and place our children first and our accreditation second. 

The reasons to remove the BOE include:

1. Poor oversight, mismanagement, and bad policy.
2. Out of control practice of nepotism and cronyism
3. Acts of decreased ethics and conflict of interest
4. Unexplained budget shortfalls that place the school system in crisis
5. Board of Education engaging in micromanagement of school staff
6. High administrative staff under criminal charges and investigation
7. Inadequate budgetary plan which places our school system on “shaky” financial ground
8. Grand Jury investigations and forensic audits that warrants DA’s attention
9. Children and school staff overlooked due to waste and mismanagement by BOE
10. Board of Education and Superintendent in conflict and engaged in major media circus.

It’s time for the parents and homeowners to send a message that we want the madness to end.  The school system should focus of the needs of the children first and provide a high quality of education.  We need full forensic audits that expose the “true” financial picture and shortfalls of our school system.  We need an answer to the question, “Is there any criminal activity that should be prosecuted”?

Until we place our children and accreditation at the top of our priority list, parents and homeowners stand to lose our accreditation.  We ask our Board of Education to demonstrate the value they place in our children and school system by completing the following:

• Fully answer and complete the eleven required actions mandated by SACS
• If any of the required actions are not completed to the satisfaction of SACS, the Board of Education should resign.

If there are people that value the Board of Education over our children and accreditation, I ask that you explain to the rest of us the reason, “Why?"