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Dekalb County Education Coverage

Board approves $15K raise for schools superintendent

The DeKalb County Board of Education approved a $15,000 raise for Superintendent Crawford Lewis this month, angering educators who said they’ve been denied raises due to the poor economy. The board voted 8-1 on Jan. 4 to increase Lewis’ salary fr...

Principal helps McNair Middle make the grade

Susan Freeman was named principal of McNair Middle School four years ago.
Susan Freeman reached into a desk drawer inside her office in November and pulled out an old copy of The Champion. It featured a front-page article several years old detailing serious disciplinary problems that plagued the school years before she arr...

Magazine names Redan one of the nation’s best high schools

Redan High School is among America’s best high schools, according to a U.S. News & World Report study. The school recently landed the magazine’s bronze award for providing great service to students. The award considers a school’s percentage...

Former principal pleads guilty to falsifying test answers at Atherton Elementary

James Berry
Former Atherton Elementary School Principal James Berry pleaded guilty to falsifying state documents – his students’ state-standardized tests, more specifically – this month and received two years probation and a fine, officials said. The final...

School board tables ethics policy at Walker’s request

The DeKalb County Board of Education tabled the discussion of a proposed ethics policy this month after board member Gene Walker angrily told the board it was acquiescing too easily to board critics. “I’m deeply offended by you all feeling that t...

Construction firm wants access to seized school district documents

A years-long lawsuit between the DeKalb County School System and a construction firm became more complicated this month after the company demanded access to documents seized by investigators last month in a separate probe. Heery/Mitchell, a managemen...

Levitas wants to create ethics commission for school system

State Rep. Kevin Levitas plans to pre-file legislation next week that would subject the DeKalb County School System to an ethics commission designed to prevent school board members from serving with conflicts of interest. The bill, called the DeKalb ...

DeKalb puts the brakes on school closures, attendance zone changes

The DeKalb County School System slammed the brakes Nov. 6 on recently announced plans to close schools and redraw attendance zones districtwide, saying they plan to consult the public over the next year before making decisions, officials said. A new ...

Stories, crafts, foods and more come together at Waldorf School of Atlanta’s holiday fair

Third grade teacher Elizabeth Roosevelt and board member Nick Owen say they enjoy the opportunity to show visitors around the Waldorf School. Photo by Kathy Mitchell
For many it’s still a bit early for holiday shopping, but those in the know recognized Nov. 7 as the opportunity to find items unlike those offered elsewhere. The Waldorf School of Atlanta’s annual Holiday Fair draws people from around the metro ...

School official: District will have to close schools in DeKalb

The DeKalb County School System will have to close an undetermined number of schools and redraw attendance zones to help eliminate nearly 16,000 empty seats the district anticipates over the next seven years, district officials said. The closures wil...

DeKalb schools join Gwinnett in lawsuit over local charter school control

The DeKalb County School System has joined Gwinnett County schools in a lawsuit against the state over local control of charter schools. In the forthcoming suit, the school board will claim the State Charter Commissions Act strips local school boards...

Mother of Decatur High student killed in drive-by opens memorial funds at local banks

  Peggy Hunter, mother of Mikel Pittard, said she was surprised earlier this month to learn things about her son she never knew. “He did a lot of stuff I didn’t know about. Some parents have walked up to me and told me he had spent time with the...

Paideia community rebounding from fire

Arson is suspected in the fire that destroyed the Mother Goose classroom building at Paideia. Photo by Robert Naddra
The smell of charred wood still wafts through the air in front of the Mother Goose building on the campus of the Paideia School in Druid Hills. The structure, which was destroyed by fire on Friday, Oct. 3, was one of the school’s signature building...

Princeton Elementary dedicates library nook in student’s memory

Friends, family and school officials of Kameron Michael Dunmore commemorate a bench and a corner of the library at Princeton Elementary School. Kameron died in February.
Princeton Elementary School renamed a nook of its library after Kameron Michael Dunmore, a student who died after a car struck him in a crosswalk earlier this year. A plaque posted in the library’s corner reads: Kameron Michael Dunmore… In loving...

State shuts down embattled Lithonia charter school for poor performance

The State Board of Education shut down the Academy of Lithonia Charter School in June for poor performance, revoking the charter it held for about eight years, a state official said.   The school on Evans Mill Road has served students in kindergarte...

Final DeKalb schools report in boy’s suicide says bullying not a factor

An in-depth report on the suicide of former Dunaire Elementary School student Jaheem Herrera released last month concludes there is no evidence that fellow students bullied the boy, and a range of factors contributed to his death in April.The report ...

Going to the principal’s office-- Former student in top post at her former high school

Southwest DeKalb graduate, Angela Thomas Bethea is now the principal at her former school
The year is 1989. George H. Bush is president, Madonna’s Like a Prayer and Tone Loc’s Wild Thing dominate the airwaves, while Do the Right Thing drives audiences to movie theaters.Over at Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, a young Angela Th...

School board fires assistant principal implicated in cheating scandal

The DeKalb County School System intends to fire an assistant principal who was caught in the middle of a statewide test tampering scandal in June, a district spokesman said. The school district sent a letter to former Atherton Elementary School Assi...

Making the grade helps players’ scholarship chances

Miller Grove senior defensive back Terrance Moore, who has a 4.0 GPA, is receiving interest from Ivy League schools.
Terrance Moore understands that his responsibility to the Miller Grove football team doesn’t end when he walks off the field.Moore, a senior defensive back for the Wolverines, also is relied on as a tutor and mentor to some of his teammates. With a...

School system to extend judge’s bullying probe

DeKalb County schools chief Crawford Lewis has extended the contract with retired Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore – a contract that has already earned her about $170,000, a school spokesman said. The contract extension asks Moore to investigate ...

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