Superintendent Thurmond Releases 90-Day Plan

The plan for DeKalb's schools came out late Tuesday.

DeKalb County Schools Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond unveiled a 90-day plan of action on Tuesday. Shortly after the plan went out, Patch met with Thurmond, who said: "Did you see the plan? Every day things get a little better, but every day you find something else that's wrong. It took years to get that way, and will take a while to fix." Dear DeKalb County School District Stakeholders, My first two months on the job have provided a unique opportunity for me to engage a cross section of DeKalb County School District (herein DCSD) stakeholders in open, honest and frank discussions. I have listened and learned. Now is the time for leadership. Working in partnership with Chairman Melvin Johnson and the members of the DeKalb County …

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Tom Doolittle

8:29 am on Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Daily Beast Rankings heavy on Grad Rates--kills GA schools due to new 5-year disallowance and not tracking transfers. Total Bullcrap. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html   more ›

Letters to the Editor

An Open Letter to Michael Thurmond

A parent attended last Wednesday's Emory LaVista Parent Council meeting in Druid Hills and has a few thoughts.

Mr. Thurmond, Thank you for your honest back and forth with citizens at this morning's Emory LaVista Parent Council meeting. I attend a lot of meetings and your willingness to stay in the conversation is a refreshing change. Many of your subordinates have a record of walking out instead of dealing with difficult questions. Every time I hear you speak I become a more ardent supporter. You may be the right person to be superintendent at this time. I particularly appreciate your attitude of getting to know how things work before attempting to make any big changes. Hopefully, you are a fast learner. I have to tell you parents are well aware you are not answering many of the questions asked. I repeat my question, are salaries of employees going…

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Tom Doolittle

2:28 pm on Monday, April 22, 2013

Firing people and reducing salaries is for tough bosses. Even tho this guy owes none of them anything, he probably is not the guy thats going to do tough things. The non-teaching position bloat is the litmus test. He will fail it--and will fail, with a period.   more ›

Thurmond to Address Parent Council Wednesday

The interim superintendent will address the Emory Lavista Parent Council at Coralwood School at 9:15 a.m.

DeKalb County schools interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond will speak before the Emory Lavista Parent Council on Wednesday. The talk will be a follow-up to Thurmond's appearance before the council in February – days after his first day at work – that drew considerable criticism from attendees. Thurmond's 9:15 a.m. talk at Coralwood School, 2477 Coralwood Drive, Atlanta, will be called, "The State of the System, Revisted." DeKalb School Watch Two, a blog that writes about the DeKalb County School System, has suggested questions to ask Thurmond at the meeting.  

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Johnson, McMahan, Orson Issue Statement

The three DeKalb school board members who remain state their point of view.

As elected representatives on the DeKalb County Board of Education, we find ourselves in a unique and confusing situation. We are the three members of the Board of Education not subject to the State Board of Education's review process because we joined the DeKalb Board in January 2013, and the State Board's action concerned the nine Board members who held office prior to January 2013.   We, along with Superintendent Michael Thurmond, are committed to restoring full accreditation and focusing our efforts on the academic achievement of DeKalb's 99,000 students and the professional well-being of the people who teach and serve those students, and we pledge to restore making outcomes for children the priority of the DeKalb County School …

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Thurmond: Voters Partially Responsible for School Board Strife

"I'm here to correct some of the mistakes they made but also to correct some of the mistakes you made," the interim superintendent said at Oak Grove Elementary School on Wednesday.

DeKalb County voters are partially responsible for the strife and discord that has pushed the board of education to the brink of its own removal, interim schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond said Wednesday. Because voters elected the board members, they must take some responsibility for the state of the board and the school system as it struggles to regain approval from its accreditors, he said, speaking before the Emory Lavista Parent Council at Oak Grove Elementary School. It was his first public appearance since the embattled school board hired him last week to replace Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson. "My job is to correct mistakes. I did not make them," he said shortly before the meeting came to a close. "I'm here to correct many of …

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Ann

8:48 am on Sunday, April 14, 2013

Was a crooked politican when he served as Commissioner of the Department of Labor. Unless it was the intent to continue to produce uneducated children, I can't imagine how Thurmond got himself appointed to anything having to do with education.   more ›

Superintendent Thurmond to Speak at Oak Grove Elementary

Interim head of DeKalb's school system will make his first appearance next week.

Michael Thurmond, interim superintendent of the DeKalb County School System, will appear at Oak Grove Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. This will be his first public appearance, aside from school board meetings, since being appointed on Feb. 8. He will make a speech and take questions from parents. "He understands people want to be assured that the board is going in the right direction," Board Vice Chairman Jim McMahan told Patch by telephone Friday morning. "I appreciate his willingness to get out there."

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'No Magic Wand,' Says Thurmond

DeKalb schools' interim superintendent holds his first meeting.

Newly-appointed interim school superintendent Michael Thurmond wasted no time on Monday night as he held his first meeting with board members at the district's Stone Mountain headquarters. “I do not have a magic wand,” Thurmond said, "but every day we will come with one goal in mind: to become better and to inspire and educate our children.” He joins the DeKalb School District at a difficult time - his predecessor's sudden departure, probation from SACS, and a continuing struggle to maintain accreditation.  Thurmond promised to restore the reputation of DeKalb's schools, according to the AJC. The nine-member school board, some of whom have only been on the job about a month, is hoping to avoid being removed by Governor Nathan Deal. Parent …

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