Petition To Oust DeKalb School Board Gains Momentum

Less than two weeks after being placed on probation, the DeKalb County School Board is now the target of an online petition calling for their removal.

CBS Atlanta is reporting that the petition has already received more than 500 signatures.

"I have 2 children enrolled in Dekalb county public schools. It's time for some accountability!" said one Dunwoody resident who signed the petition.

Said another, "The DCSS Board is completely incompetent. There is not enough space here to elaborate."

DeKalb resident Grace McKenna began the online petition, calling on Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to replace the entire school board.

On Dec. 17, the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools (SACS) placed the school board on probation until December 2013. 

"There is significant and irrefutable evidence that the DeKalb County School District is in a state of conflict and chaos,” said SACS Chairman Dr. Mark Elgart. "This failure to govern effectively has resulted in a decline in student performance, financial mismanagement, and lack of integrity and ethics in recruiting, appointing and evaluating personnel at all levels of the school system."

The Georgia Department of Education must meet within 30 days of SACS report and make a recommendation to Gov. Deal on how to proceed.

Under a new law, Deal has the authority to replace the school board. If the school board was removed, all nine members would be dismissed. At that point, individual members could appeal to the Deal to be appointed to the reconfigured board.

Dunwoody Patch wants to know: do you believe the governor should replace DeKalb's school board? Take our Patch poll and share your opinion in the comments section below this article.

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DeKalb Schools Probation: Upsetting But Not Surprising