DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers feels DeKalb County School District officials aren't being forthright with its superintendent selection process.
The Board of Education announced Dr. Devon Horton as the sole finalist for the position last week. He was presented Wednesday night during a town hall meeting at Chamblee High School.
Georgia Federation of Teachers President Verdaillia Turner said the event was a way to make the public feel like they are part of the process.
"All of us are stakeholders, but some of us got more influence than others. There is a way of neighborly controlling people so they will feel like they are part of the democratic process. It's an exercise in futility," Turner said.
After DeKalb announced Horton as its finalist, some criticism followed. Some parents are concerned about Horton's ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit at his last school district in the Chicago suburbs. Others have also expressed how the process of naming the next superintendent feels rushed, with some questioning the board's process.
Turner thinks more candidates should have been presented to the public.
"We need to try to get the best person that we can with the most experience, and especially the one who can handle a school district like DeKalb County, which has been beleaguered with so many problems over the years," Turner explained.
Horton's selection came after the previous DeKalb County superintendent was terminated in 2022, following a vote conducted by the board.
The decision to relieve former Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris of her position took place after Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods issued a scathing letter back in 2022, scolding the DeKalb school board for not taking action to improve conditions at Druid Hills High School.
Last year, videos from students went viral after they exposed mold, a sewage leak and crumbling walls at the high school.
DeKalb held a second town hall meeting for the community to meet Horton Thursday at Ronald E. McNair Middle. Its final one will be Friday at the Administrative & Instructional Complex, which is located at 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Stone Mountain.
The State School Superintendent, Richard Woods, released a statement back in March siding with the community asking the district to "pause the selection process," for its new superintendent.