Category Archives: DeKalb Schools

DeKalb Schools Embraces Hiring And Budget Autonomy for Conversion Charters?

Posted on August 13, 2014 by | 2 comments

References
.pdf link icon DeKalb Schools Conversion Charter Guidelines 05/12/2014 – not fully autonomous
.pdf link icon Options for DCSD conversion charters up for renewal
.pdf link icon Fulton Schools Charter System Application – Not fully autonomous – (Page 50 has a good chart of their flexibility)
.pdf link icon McNair Conversion Charter Petition – Autonomous personnel and financial decisions – Page 33 – “The school will implement a rigorous interview process to select and hire highly qualified teachers”
.doc link icon State Memo – charters must be autonomous
Across the state, the autonomy of conversion charters has been optional until now. The Georgia Department of Education released this memo, dated June 2014, saying,
Charter School Autonomy is No Longer Optional

  • Charter renewal applicants – including conversion charter school applicants – that are not granted full autonomy by their school districts will be recommended for denial.
  • Full autonomy means that the charter school’s Governing Board must have the final authority in personnel decisions, financial decisions, curriculum and instruction, resource allocation, establishing and monitoring the achievement of school improvement goals, and school operations.

The DeKalb Schools Board recently approved a Conversion Charter with full autonomy including personnel and budget decisions. The DeKalb College & Career Academy Conversion Charter School petition says, “The school will implement a rigorous interview process to select and hire highly qualified teachers and staff.”
Moving forward, I look forward to all Conversion Charters being implemented with the same amount of personnel and budget autonomy.
Flexibility Decision
DeKalb Schools is holding public meetings regarding the district wide migration to a Charter System. The meetings will be at 6 p.m. at the following high schools and dates:

  • Lithonia High on Aug. 26
  • Lakeside High on Aug. 27
  • Dunwoody High on Aug. 28
  • Towers High on Sept. 2
  • Stephenson High on Sept. 3

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Posted in Charter Schools, DeKalb Schools

Hundreds of Immigrants Camping Out To Register Their Kids For School

Posted on August 8, 2014 by | 9 comments

 Families registering students sleep outside DeKalb schools hq
 July 2010 US Committee on Foreign Relations- Clarkston Refugees
 Immigrants spend night outside DeKalb schools HQ
Immigrant children swarm school district registration office
WSBTV is reporting hundreds of immigrants are camping out overnight at the DeKalb Schools central office to register kids for school on Monday. Many of the adults WSB talked to didn’t speak English and had with them children who recently came across the border unaccompanied.
United States Refugees

According to a July 2010 report from the US Committee on Foreign Relations, from 1975 to 2010 the United States has offered safe-haven to nearly 3 million refugees. Resettlement efforts in some U.S. cities are underfunded, overstretched, and failing to meet the basic needs of the refugee populations they are currently asked to assist. The burdens of addressing the unique needs of refugees after they arrive are passed on to local communities. Many resettled refugees are illiterate in their native language or suffer from severe physical or mental ailments and many are ill-equipped to secure employment.
Clarkston High School, DeKalb School District

The convenient access to the metro-Atlanta job market, nearby highway system, and affordable housing that made Clarkston, DeKalb ideal for longtime residents were the factors that caused the city to be selected as the primary resettlement city for all of Georgia. Clarkston High School students come from more than 54 countries and speak over 48 languages. The US committee on Foreign Relations reported in 2010 that teachers and administrators are said to be failing to address the special needs of the refugee youth, in addition to the needs of the general student population. Consequently, the deteriorating condition of overall instruction has fuelled significant shifts in the demographics of Clarkston’s population.
DeKalb Schools’ Response

WSB reported that a spokesperson for DeKalb Schools said immigrants, refugees and children of non-English speaking families must register at the headquarters so they can be evaluated. The evaluation process takes time and their staffing only allows for 50- to 60 children each day. The school district did not have a suggestion for the parents, but noted this is likely not related to the surge of unaccompanied minors. The district routinely consists of thousands of immigrant students, making up about 20 percent of enrollment.

9 Comments

Posted in DeKalb Schools, Immigrant Population