Author Archives: Stan Jester

Central Office ReOrg Phase III

Posted on April 25, 2016 | 26 comments

At the business meeting last week, the Board of Education approved Phase III of the Central Office Reorganization to include the appointment of senior-level personnel, reclassification of existing positions, creation of new positions, elimination of existing positions, and the realignment of existing positions.
ReOrganizations To Date
  Phase I – (DEC 2015)
  Phase II – (MAR 2016)
  Phase III – (APR 2016)

Hire Senior Level Personnel

Lisa Martin Lisa Martin  –  (.pdf link icon  resume)  (Chief Academic and Accountability Officer – start date of June 1, 2016) – Ms. Martin has been the Superintendent and Associate Superintendent for various school districts across the South East over the last 5 years.
Chezia Calloway Chezia Calloway  –  (.pdf link icon  resume)  (Executive Director, Exceptional Education – start date of August 22, 2016) – Ms. Calloway was in the Maryland Department of Education for 5 years. She has been the last few years in Bermuda where she was Assistant Director of Student Services before coming to DeKalb.

ReOrg Phase III
Phase III of the reorganization flattens the layers of bureaucracy through decentralization, placing critical human capital and operations services in the field with the regional superintendent.
Elimination of Existing Positions
Any existing personnel in eliminated positions are encouraged to apply for currently open positions. Employment, however, is not guaranteed and open positions will be filled with the most qualified applicant.

  • Director of Transportation Operations
  • Manager, Compensation
  • Manager, Insurance
  • Manager, HR Technology for IS (vacant position)

Creation of New Positions

  • Manager, Human Capital (for Central Office)
  • Administrative Assistant (supporting the Director, Total Rewards)
  • Manager, Compensation and Insurance
  • Specialist II, Talent Management
  • Regional Transportation Manager – 3 positions (Each region will have a transportation manager who works directly with the Region Superintendent and is responsible for the management and communication with the schools and parents in that region regarding transportation matters).

Reclassification of Existing Positions

  • Director, Total Rewards (formerly Director, Staff Services)
  • Regional Facilities Maintenance Supervisors – 5 positions (formerly Skill Trade Supervisors for Building & Grounds, HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, and Audio/Visual)
  • Regional Transportation Manager – 2 positions (formerly Transportation Operations Manager)
  • Director of Fleet and Special Transportation Operations (formerly Director of Fleet Services)
  • Lead Bus Drivers – 12 positions (formerly Field Support Liaisons)

26 Comments

Posted in Reorganization ReOrg

Sen. Fran Millar – Not a Fan of the E-SPLOST Language

Posted on April 20, 2016 | 5 comments

Stan Jester
DeKalb County
Board Of Education

This past February, the Board of Education approved E-SPLOST V.  On a motion by Mr. Orson, seconded by Mrs. Turner, and with a 5\2 vote, with  Mr. Jester and Mr. McMahan voting no, the motion passed calling for a May, 2016 referendum to authorize a one cent sales tax for five years.
As reported by the AJC, “DeKalb County School District officials could face an uphill battle in May as they ask voters to approve [$500 – $600 million] in taxes for school improvements … While Fulton and Atlanta have provided a list of projects intended for their E-SPLOST dollars, DeKalb’s list is a work in progress.”

Last week State Senator Fran Millar relayed the numerous complaints he has received about the lack of a project list and his concerns about the possible vulnerabilities to a legal challenge in an open letter to Superintendent Green.
Superintendent Green Believes E-SPLOST V Language Meets Requirements (Apr 21, 2016)
Sen. Fran Millar – Not a Fan of the E-SPLOST Language (Apr 20, 2016)

State Senator Fran Millar

Fran Millar
Georgia State Senate, representing District 40

                      April 14, 2016
Dear Dr. Green,  Over the years, I have always supported DeKalb County School ESPLOSTs. However, I expressed my concerns to your staff at the Dunwoody Homeowners meeting at Dunwoody High School about the upcoming vote with no specific projects.I have received numerous complaints about your category proposal with no specific projects and decided to seek legal counsel on the matter.The ESPLOST statute says as to SPLOST terms and conditions that they are to be followed “except as otherwise expressly provided in Article VIII, Section VI, Paragraph IV of the Constitution of Georgia”.
Article VIII, Section VI, Paragraph IV specifies the contents of the resolution calling for the tax:
“(c) The resolution calling for the imposition of the tax and the ballot question shall each describe:
(1) The specific capital outlay projects to be funded …..
(2) The maximum cost of such projects ….
“The specific projects requirement is constitutional. It would override the general purposes language in the SPLOST.
I have gone to the Attorney General, Legislative Counsel and former Governor Roy Barnes’ attorney for their thoughts.
Bottom line, I believe a legal challenge to your planned approach has a good chance of being successful based on the Constitution principles outlined above.
Furthermore, an ESPLOST must be held concurrently with any independent school system ESPLOST in the same county. Atlanta Public Schools are in Atlanta, DeKalb County, and Fulton County.
By not enumerating specific projects, DeKalb may also influence whether Atlanta and Fulton (which did it right) will be affected. Therefore, I have copied their respective Superintendents.
The concurrent requirement in the Constitution means if Atlanta and Fulton are allowed and pass, then DeKalb can do nothing for a number of years.
I strongly suggest you contact your peers and see if they would be willing to wait until next spring for a vote. This will give you time to determine the specific projects and hold your planned community meetings.
Finally, I believe the call for the election must be done by April 25th (29 days in advance) so action on your part is required as soon as possible.
I look forward to hearing how you plan to proceed. Hopefully, you can act in a prompt manner and avoid this potential disaster.
Sincerely,
Senator Fran Millar
District #40

5 Comments

Posted in DeKalb County School District