Message from Trenton Arnold and Superintendent Green:
Region I Community Engagement Sessions:
Where: Dunwoody High School
When: Wednesday, September 23 @ 6:00 PM
Over the past eighteen months, the DeKalb County School District has continued to move forward with its intention to obtain charter system status from the Georgia Department of Education. Five community engagement sessions have been scheduled, and anyone seeking the opportunity to provide input is invited to attend, including parents, teachers, and other community members.
The focus of these sessions is to get stakeholder input on the Local School Governance Teams that will be required at each school and how those teams will have the opportunity to assist in the governance of the school and request flexibility from state law and Department of Education rules and regulations.
Modifications to the petition to meet new Georgia Department of Education requirements continue.
As a standing reminder, the GA DOE has an established deadline of November 1, 2015, for submission of charter petition applications that wish to begin operating as a charter district at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. The petition’s current draft can be reviewed at the link below:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/charter-system-petition/charter-system-application-cover-sheet.pdf
You are also encouraged to review information from the Georgia Department of Education concerning charter systems. This information can be found at the following web address:
http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Charter-Schools/Pages/default.aspx
We thank you in advance for your participation and look forward to seeing you soon!
Contact:
Trenton Arnold
678.676.0671
Trenton_J_Arnold@dekalbschoolsga.org
The focus of these sessions is to get stakeholder input on the Local School Governance Teams that will be required at each school and how those teams will have the opportunity to assist in the governance of the school and request flexibility from state law and Department of Education rules and regulations.
Modifications to the petition to meet new Georgia Department of Education requirements continue.
As a standing reminder, the GA DOE has an established deadline of November 1, 2015, for submission of charter petition applications that wish to begin operating as a charter district at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. The petition’s current draft can be reviewed at the link below:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/charter-system-petition/charter-system-application-cover-sheet.pdf
You are also encouraged to review information from the Georgia Department of Education concerning charter systems. This information can be found at the following web address:
http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Charter-Schools/Pages/default.aspx
We thank you in advance for your participation and look forward to seeing you soon!
Contact:
Trenton Arnold
678.676.0671
Trenton_J_Arnold@dekalbschoolsga.org
The following dates have been set for the Community Engagement Sessions:
| Region | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Region V | Towers High School | Tuesday, September 22 @ 6:00 PM |
| Region I | Dunwoody High School | Wednesday, September 23 @ 6:00 PM |
| Region IV | Lithonia High School | Tuesday, September 29 @ 6:00 PM |
| Region III | Stephenson High School | Wednesday, September 30 @ 6:00 PM |
| Region II | Lakeside High School | Tuesday, October 1 @ 6:00 PM |
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
After the testing schedule mess, I would think that checking a calendar would be someone’s priority.
I have received multiple phone calls today from parents frustrated that the Region 1 meeting about the charter system application is scheduled for Yom Kippur. In this region, there are schools with more than 10 percent Jewish families. These families are being excluded from participating because the system is choosing to hold the meeting for their community on the holiest day of the year for them.
It was the District’s intent to offer the Community Engagement Sessions across a two week time span so as to allow multiple opportunities for parents and community members to attend one (or more) of these sessions, and the sessions are not limited to individuals whose home schools are within the Region where the meeting is occurring. To this point, there will be three additional meetings during the week of September 27, 2015, at Lithonia High School, Stephenson High School, and Lakeside High School, and all stakeholders are invited to each of these sessions as well. If anyone is worried about missing community comments at one of the sessions, we will continue to do as we have done in the past with my Coordinator transcribing all comments and questions presented to me and then adding them on the District’s website.
The following dates have been set for the Community Engagement Sessions:
Dear Mr. Arnold, the transcription of the Public Engagement Sessions that you mentions only includes the questions that were asked, not the responses from DCSD.
Do you or anyone from DCSD respond to these community questions? At the meeting? Ever?
During the meeting last year at Lakeside, I asked what a charter school structure would accomplish that the current structure cannot and did not receive an answer then. I would invited either Stan or Dr. Arnold to respond.
I heard Dr. Green speak last night and it is very obvious that he has his work cut out for him. He said all of the right words and only time will tell whether he can deliver. I was particularly pleased to hear about his focus on the classroom. He promised a plan in January to improve the compensation and benefits of our teachers which, it seems to me, is essential if we are to improve the classroom. He correctly and accurately pointed to Dekalb’s past as being very troubling and placed emphasis on improving relations with the community. He also cited the gravity of the Cross Keys situation which was the subject of an AJC article in yesterday’s paper. Based on yesterday’s AJC editorial page about allowing cities to form their own school system, I would urge the Dekalb County School System to meet with the communities across Dekalb and listen, truly listen, and respond to the many valid concerns of our citizens. Dr. Arnold, with all due respect, I share the view that the school system largely had its mind made up when it held those meetings last year and, unless that approach changes this year, I don’t see much value in even asking again this year.
I am more and more confused about the Charter System. First, I find it hard to believe that input from an October 1 community engagement session can substantially inform the District’s charter system petition, which apparently has to be presented to the BOE by November 1. Is there really time to make changes? Or has the community figured out that the sessions are just for show and therefore it is staying home rather than repeating the input they gave last year?
Then, the discussion at the October 5 BOE Work Session is called “School Flex Options,” NOT “Charter System Petition. Can’t wait to hear what that is. Surely DCSD isn’t thinking about NOT petitioning to be a Charter System.
Then, the 2 required public hearings that same day are about “Charter District Application.”
Communications 101 – Be consistent, direct, forthright.