Gov. Deal Announces New Board Members for DeKalb County

Thanks to Maureen Downey from Get Schooled for getting this information to the public so quickly!
 For her full report, click here.

The new members of the DeKalb County school board, who will be sworn in at 1 p.m. today are as follows:

District 1 (formerly Nancy Jester's district)

John Coleman
Coleman is a strategic planning manager at Invesco. Previously, he held a variety of leadership roles at McKinsey & Company. He also serves on various nonprofit boards. Coleman has a master’s in Business Administration from Harvard and a master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. He resides in Atlanta.

District 3 (formerly Sarah Copelin-Wood's district)

Michael Erwin
Erwin is a U.S. Navy veteran and has been a research assistant at Duke University Medical Center and the University of South Carolina. He has worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Services and is past chair of the NOAA fisheries committees on fish species and fish diseases in Maine and South Carolina. In 2008, he earned a Ph.D. in Biological Science from the University of South Carolina. He has been a member of the faculty at Georgia Gwinnett College since 2009 and teaches undergraduate students in biological science. He graduated from North Carolina Central University with a bachelor’s in Biology and a master’s in Biological Science. Erwin resides in Decatur.

District 5 (formerly Jay Cunningham's district)

David Campbell
Campbell is a senior manager with Georgia Power, where he supports the company’s energy conservation efforts. He is a certified public accountant with managerial experience. Campbell received a degree in Business Administration from Albany State University. He is a former chair of Leadership DeKalb, a member of the DeKalb 100 Black Men and an active member of St. Phillips AME. He formerly served on the Stephenson High School Council and resides in Lithonia.

District 7 (formerly Donna Edler's district)

Joyce Morley
Morley is the chief executive officer of Morley and Associates and is a nationally known public speaker and trainer. She is a certified counselor, a trained mediator and serves on several local and national governance boards. Morley has a doctorate in Counseling, Family and Worklife from the University of Rochester. She received her specialist’s and master’s degrees in Counseling Education from the State University New York College at Brockport, and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the SUNY College at Genesco. A Stone Mountain resident, Morley has lived in DeKalb County for more than 22 years.

District 8 (formerly Dr. Pam Speaks' super district)

Karen Carter
Carter serves on the faculty of Georgia Perimeter College where she is chair of the Business and Social Science department. She received a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications from Denison University and a law degree from Ohio State University. Carter has served as a classroom teacher and has held several senior administrative roles in the field of education. She is a graduate of Leadership DeKalb and is an active community volunteer and a PTSA member. Carter is a resident of the Lakeside Community.

District 9 (formerly Dr. Eugene Walker's super district)

Thaddeus Mayfield
Mayfield is a senior partner with FOCOM, Inc., a Georgia-based business development firm. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Mercer University and received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Tougaloo College. He co-chaired the successful Friends of DeKalb Education SPLOST IV Campaign and is an active member of several business and civic organizations in the metropolitan area. Mayfield is a resident of Lithonia.

NOTES from the Dunwoody Meetings

Notes from the Improving Public Education in Dunwoody Forum

By Audra Anders

• The sanctuary was packed and people were standing up in the back.   

• All the TV stations were there (I saw FOX, NBC and ABC news vans).

• I am personally energized by the proactive efforts of the hosts of the meeting:   

• The Dunwoody Parents Concerned about Quality Education, Inc. 

• The entire Dunwoody City Council was there (except maybe one) 

• Nancy Jester received a standing ovation 

• Senator Fran Millar and House Representative Tom Taylor were there and were active participants and seem to be fighting for our kids! 

• My favorite Peachtree Charter Middle School teacher (Mrs. Gero) brought me to tears 

• As for the content of the meeting….I’ll try to be brief but the meeting lasted 1.5 hours.

For more details and notes from the Dunwoody meeting by Audra, click here.

**************Dunwoody Homeowner's Association Meeting Summary

By Bob Lundstrom

At a DHA meeting on March 3, the headliner that was suppose to steal the show was instead a no show.  Micheal Thumond, the Interim Superintendent, was delayed and has been rescheduled for next Sunday, March 10.

The real highlight of the evening turned out to be Representative Tom Taylor, he was reason enough to attend.  Tom took about 20 minutes to explain his House Resolution to the DHA Executive Board while local TV was there to report.

Tom explained what we could expect if the Resolution were to pass the House, Senate and then be aproved by 50%+1 voters state wide in 2014.

**************

And, An Interview With Michael Thurmond (from today's AJC)  

By Nancy Badertscher 

Phil Skinner

FEBRUARY 21, 2013-ATLANTA: DeKalb school board Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond answers questions during a State Board of Education hearing in Atlanta on Thurs. Feb. 21st, 2013. The state board is tasked with making a recommendation on whether the nine Dekalb School board members should be booted out of office. A new state law allows this for school districts that in danger of having their accreditation snatched. DeKalb school officials have posed a legal challenge to the law's constitutionality but they won't get a hearing on that until later. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

Michael Thurmond ended his third week as DeKalb County school superintendent watching six of the nine people who hired him fighting to keep their school board jobs. Thurmond sat down with staff writer Nancy Badertscher to discuss the challenges facing the district, including the possible loss of school accreditation. He talks of reaching out to the head of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the agency that accredits the district, and of asking Gwinnett School Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks to be his mentor. With all he’s facing, Thurmond says he’s not overwhelmed, but “excited and blessed, really, to be given this opportunity. It is the challenge of a lifetime.”

Q: Do you agree with Gov. Deal’s decision to remove the six board members?

A: “I respect the decision. I don’t necessarily agree with it. I think the vote at the ballot box is sacred, and I think only in the most extreme situations can we dilute or abridge that right. He [Deal] had a tough choice to make and even he expressed reservations about it. But what he said was: ‘I didn’t have any other choice.’ ”

Q: On the topic of accreditation, have you talked one-on-one with Mark Elgart? What was the upshot of the discussion?

A: “I met with him the second week. I expressed to him that I will in this administration do whatever it takes to address the issues that SACS has raised and that I need his support to regain full accreditation.”

Q: Did he give you odds?

A: “I asked him if he is confident I can get the job done. He told me, ‘No.’ He followed up with: ‘Confidence is based on experience, and I don’t have any experience with you.’ But he said, ‘I do have faith you can get the job done.’ I told him ‘I couldn’t ask for any more than that.’ The truth is I couldn’t ask for any more. It was fair and honest.”

Q: Do you know why no action was taken on the SACS to-do list from December until when you were hired?

A: “I hesitate because I don’t want to violate any legal confidences. Yes, I know why. I know what I’ve been told. Senior staff was directed not to contact SACS.”

Q: By whom? The former superintendent?

A: (Silent for a moment.) “Senior staff was told not to respond to SACS. I think that’s one of the more compelling unanswered questions from the state hearing. It was brought up over and over again by state board members: Why did DeKalb School District not move forthrightly to respond to the [SACS] letter on Dec. 18? Dr. Elgart said he heard nothing until we [Thurmond] reached out to him.”

Q: Did you press these senior staff members to explain why?

A: “These are loyal employees who respect the chain of command.”

Q: In your mind, did that make the situation worse?

A: “Absolutely. It is an embarrassment. I think it had a tremendous impact on how the state board looked at the school district. How could you go two months on the most critical issue, which is accreditation and it’s at risk. That’s unconscionable. I was relieved to find out it was not for indifference.”

Q: I understand you’ve spent a good deal of time meeting with parents. What’s the upshot of what you’ve gleaned from them?

A: “Many parents are frustrated and angry, which is very understandable. What’s been impressive is so many parents and stakeholders have said, ‘We support you and want you to succeed.’ That is so gratifying to me. I’m not going to let them down. God be my witness. We have to succeed because for the children — their educational careers hang in the balance.”

Q: Has anyone made an issue of the fact that you are not an educator? And if so, how do you respond?

A: “Oh yeah, people have raised that. I accept that. It’s a fact. Some would prefer I had a Ph.D. or MA in education But last night, I thought about it. We have hundreds of Ph.Ds, master’s degrees. What we need is people with some CS degrees— common sense. Common sense would have allowed them to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. Hopefully, I bring some common sense. I believe in three principals of leadership .. It’s the LLL, listening, learning and leading. I’m in the listening stage right now.”

Q: How about teachers?

A: “I look forward to spending time with teachers, but not just them — everyone, the bus drivers, cafeteria workers, everyone. I tell people I parachuted into the middle of a firefight with bullets, missiles, projectiles coming in all directions. But things have settled a little bit.”

Q: Have you set any immediate priorities?

A: “Restoring accreditation is my No. 1, 2 and 3 priorities. That’s the ballgame.”

Q: What have you been doing behind the scenes that the public doesn’t know about?

A: “I’ve talked to Alvin Wilbanks in Gwinnett and asked him to be my mentor. I have great respect for him. I’ve reached out to educators, retired and active, and asked them to assist me in these efforts. I’ve talked to students.”

Q: Have you or do you plan to request a forensic audit?

A: “On March 15, I have to present my 90 day-plan to the board. I would be surprised if that would not be one of my recommendations.”

Q: Lastly, any regrets about taking on this challenge?

A: (Thurmond laughs.) “I called the state retirement system today. My first retirement check from the state (for his work at the Labor Department, Department of Family and Children Services and the University of Georgia) was scheduled to arrive March 1. I said: ‘Cancel that check.’ We’ll retire another day.”

Citizens Taking Action in School Board Crisis

From WSB-TV and reported in the Atlanta Journal:

Parents Taking Action in School Board Crisis

Attendees at a weekend meeting want to focus on children first, accreditation second.

• By Cheryl Miller

Residents of DeKalb County gathered Saturday at a realty company in Decatur to discuss findings in the report on DeKalb County's School Board issued by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in December.

SACS has placed the district on Probation. A panel of community leaders also presented highlights from a Grand Jury investigation into school system finances. Three grand juries have called upon the District Attorney to convene a special panel that would delve further into their concerns.

Viola Davis, the event's organizer and a Patch contributor, has established a new group called Restore DeKalb, intended to return the county's school system to one that is focused on the children first, and accreditation second. That is in contrast to the stated mission of the new Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond who has vowed to make accreditation his number one priority.

The meeting appeared to be a success in reaching stakeholders from all parts of the county who wanted to learn more about the dire circumstances they are facing, but some expressed disappointment that there were not more people in attendance.

"I know you all vote," stated one panel member who rose to address the crowd of close to 100, "but if you know someone who doesn't vote, please talk to them. Tell them about what is going on. We have to get more people to show up at the polls so we can vote for more responsible leadership. Our rights will only help us if we are willing to use them."

This Thursday, the state Board of Education will continue a hearing with DeKalb's board members. Once it has concluded, the BOE will have 15 days to make a formal, written recommendation to Governor Nathan Deal to remove or keep the board. Deal will then determine if he will follow the recommendation. The decision had many attendees voicing concerns about whom the Governor might appoint and what that decision might mean for the future of the schools.

Willie Pringle, a parent at Southwest DeKalb High School, has been speaking out in his community and at local school board meetings for years. He stated that the board has had plenty of time to make changes but have put their own needs and desire for money first. He believes Cheryl Atkinson has helped uncover a lot of problems and the board now wants to use her as their scapegoat to blame instead of owning up to how they contributed to those problems.

Betsy Parks, a resident of the Lakeside High School district, attended the two-hour meeting along with others from her area. She felt the system was in such bad shape that she removed her child first and then help spearhead efforts to remove the entire board from their positions. Parks is only a few signatures away on a petition she started that asks for the board's removal. She plans to deliver the final 1,500 signatures and comments to the state board on Wednesday.

One former system employee - who wanted to be known only as Barbara - admitted to knowing where missing funds mentioned by SACS are probably located. She disagreed with Pringle's accusations against the board and thought Dr. Atkinson was to blame.

To that, Davis replied, "until I see with my own eyes a principal who can hold up a brand new textbook and say 'look, we've found them. We have the books here,' then I still say the board has to go. If they can't show us the books or find the money, they are a part of the problem and they have to go."

For more about Restore DeKalb and the mission of Davis, Pringle and others who want the children to be the top priority, visit the group's upcomimg website. Davis is also a leader who has worked with Get the Cell Out - Atlanta and the Unhappy Taxpayer and Voters, two groups established to demand higher accountability from elected officials in DeKalb County.

To view the live webcast of the state hearing on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 8 a.m., click here. To add your name to the online petition, click here.

Watch Out, DeKalb. ATT is Getting Bigger

A huge cell tower and a dark, ominous storm cloud loom over an
ATT retail store in the Publix shopping plaza on Hugh Howell Road in
Tucker, GA.  Why is it that the cell towers made it onto the July 2011
ballot, but no one in the legislature wants to talk about them?
Where do we go from here?  

(click to read full story)

Wishful Thinking

We wish we could say that our schools and neighborhoods were safe from the intrusion of huge and ugly radiation spewing cell phone towers (like the one pictured here).  

We wish we could trust that our school board and school administration were focused on education, not securing themselves a nice slush fund while ruining our communities in the process. 

 But, we can't.  

That's why we continue to follow the clues that might help us stay out in front of them and their plans, and this latest announcement from ATT might be important.  (text included in article below this commentary.)

We've highlighted some of the pertinent content below in case you do not have time to read the article in its entirety.  But, even more importantly, you will want to check for any Alltel FCC permits that might be located near your home or school to determine if there are any old ones that ATT could have acquired along with the existing already-built towers.  Many times, these companies get the permits from the FCC and then sit on them for years before deciding to build.  Then, they can quickly get the special land use permits, or other land disturbance permit that is required by local law, and build without the public finding out.  

Normally, there would have to be a sign posted for 30 days at the location to alert the public about a hearing in front of the commissioners and Director of Planning in DeKalb County.  But, our county office is a bit distracted right now since the CEO Burrell Ellis had is home invaded a few days ago upon issue of a search warrant by a grand jury investigating problems with the Watershed Management Group.  And, remember, we were told that the school system can do whatever they want if the construction is for educational purposes.  

Superintendent Akinson's announcement about e-books could be a great excuse to claim an educational purpose, but it will not hold up in court.  Cell towers are not necessary to read content on a screen.  And there is no educational value to providing books in one format over another.  It's like saying do you want paper or plastic bags at the grocery.  Does it really matter?  

If she did try to show an educational value to this misguided decision, she would be hard pressed to find a school system that has improved as a result of going digital in any format, and certainally none the size of DeKalb.  In fact, in other states there are Attorney General investigations taking place right now to determine if there is criminal fraud taking place and there is definitely no educational benefit to the children when the money intended for their benefit is being stolen from them.  

The original 12 schools are mapped above.  Most of these T-mobile contracts with the school system appear to be expired, but the money has not been accounted for in any documentation we have been able to locate.  The only sites that still have contracts with valid expiration dates are Narvie J. Harris and Lakeside, but Lakeside's contracts is not signed by T-mobile so we are unsure if it is valid.  And the Narvie contract mentions "Panthersville" which is the nearby stadium that does look like it already has a cell tower, so we are not clear on whether there is actually one intended for the school grounds or not.

We Need Your Help, Too!

At Get the Cell Out - ATL, we are doing our best to keep our schools and communities informed about anything related to the cell towers, which voters said by a large majority that they did not want to see at our schools.  We believe there was more to the push for the towers than just the money or even the coverage at Lakeside.  We have been on a mission to find the answers and stay ahead of the game because we do not want to see a threat to our safety, property and health be another reason to drive good families away from our  area.  

Check for new tower permits near your address here:
http://antennasearch.com/

But, ultimately, we cannot do it all without your help.  So, if you live near a site that might have an old AllTell FCC permit, or you are not sure, or your school was on the original list of 12 targeted by the school board, then please take time as soon as possible to search the database at http://antennasearch.com/.  Plug in your address and you will see a list of towers within a four mile radius.  If you see one near your school, click  on it and it will tell you who owns that license.  This is the first step ATT will need before they can build.  So, the information you see will be the same thing they use to ask for a county building permit.  

Help Us Help You!

We can help you speak out at any public hearings in order to stop the permit from being issues, if such meetings are held.  But, first we have to know about the threat before we can determine the best course of action.  So, if you find that there are AllTel tower permits out there and they appear to be in residential zoned parts of the county, or right on public school grounds, please let us know as soon as possible.  You can send an email to: sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com.  We have several attorneys we may be able to get you in touch with who are aware of this situation and can fight to stop the towers from going up near your home or school.

And, don't worry, this is one lawsuit that won't cost the school system since it is between you and the tower company.  And, your have the right to collect attorney fees under the FCC Telecommunications Act of 1996 so long as you bring forward your protest within the 30 day shot clock window that is mandatory before a building or land use permit can be issued.  

Now... on to the news....

From TechnoBloom Technology Blog:  

AT&T acquires Alltel network to increase coverage and speed

AT&T is one huge company and it has no problem buying small telecommunications companies to increase even further. According to a press release issued today, AT&T acquired Atlantic Tele-Network Inc’s retail business. The retail business actually operates under the Alltel Brand name. If you are not familiar with Alltel, the company has coverage areas in Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. The network is considered to be a CDMA network and is the same technology used by Verizon Wireless and Sprint. AT&T has plans to convert the CDMA towers over to GSM in order to increase the overall coverage they provide in those areas already.

Both AT&T and AllTel customers will benefit with better and faster data connections after the acquisition. Once the deal is complete, those consumers on the Alltel network will need to upgrade their phones to work on the AT&T network, but the company did not provide any specific details regarding that right now. The deal is set to be closed during the second half of 2013, according to the report and then other details will be revealed. AT&T will not be the first mobile company to own Alltel, in fact Verizon bought the company back in 2009.

When the deal with Verizon Wireless went through, the FCC made the company divest more than 100 markets. At that time, AT&T went ahead and bought up 79 of those markets, leaving just 26 markets, which AT&T is looking to buy now. If you remember early last year AT&T tried to buy the T-Mobile network which was blocked by the FCC and turned out to be a big issue for AT&T. AT&T was looking for more towers and more spectrums and since the T-Mobile merger was blocked, the company was left looking elsewhere for both.

Now that AT&T has dropped away from T-Mobile, T-Mobile has been looking to buy MetroPCS. Other companies like Sprint have been looking for easy ways to expand as well and is in the middle of a merger with Clearwire. On the other side of the world, Softbank in Japan is looking to buy the Sprint network, so you can see that mergers and acquisitions are nothing uncommon in the wireless industry these days.

Welcome Jim McMahan and Melvin Johnson Into the Inner Sanctum

 

RUNOFF RESULTS:

Shocking Only to Him,

H. Paul WOMACK is OUT,

Jim McMAHAN is IN for District 4

 

In District 6,

Voters Forfeited by a "No Call / No Show" Strategy

They Put Melvin "Know the Roles" Johnson

Ahead of Parent Activist Denise McGill

 

This adds some new twists to the same old story.  The other victors this election year were Marshall Orson in District 2 who defeated incumbent Don McChesney after leaking a torrid email to the press on the heels of his outright lies to the media about the rules and outcomes as related to the SPLOST IV vote last November.  As a lawyer with a huge smirk, this will be a slippery character to keep our eyes on, for sure. 

 

And, in District 8... we know, we know, you didn't think there was going to be a District 8, right?  Well, apparently the Superdistricts still exist because Dr. Eugene Walker is now the board's chairman and he hasn't finished updating his resume, yet.  So, as we were saying... District 8's Dr. Pam Speaks barely edged out some other woman whom no one really knows and whom no one reported ever seeing or hearing.  She didn't show up for any of the forums and a computerized voice machine made all her campaign calls.  Strange, but true, is that she nearly won, but Speaks will be around for the next two years or until Dr. Walker decides to rewrite the rules again.  Stay tuned...

 

It's the start of a new day in DeKalb County, GA.  At least that is what we would like to believe.  After yesterday's school board runoff elections, we're just not sure what the next two years will be like exactly. 

 

Like all good suspense novels, the story about education, civil rights, political battle lines, corruption and scandal has been unraveled for the past several decades here in DeKalb County, GA.

 

This particular thriller, however, is non-fiction and the innocent victims are the poor, under served, mostly minority and handicapped children who do not know about the price tags being placed on their heads or the reasons why so many venture capitalists and other investors are suddenly turning attention their way.   

 

We will have more of the behind-the-scenes analysis coming up in the next week, so check back with us.

 

Don't forget that the Crawford Lewis trial will begin soon.  We will be covering that story as well.

 

You can "subscribe" to Get the Cell Out - Atlanta by selecting the email option on the right hand column of our home page.  (Hover over to reveal the toolbar.)

 

Comments are welcome.... if you see a link that says comments, below, then we would love to hear your take on this election and how your family is handling this most unusual start of the school year.