Category Archives: Michael Thurmond

Michael Thurmond is the Interim Superintendent for DeKalb County School District.

05/23/2013 – Thurmond at NCA

Posted on June 3, 2013 by | 3 comments

Northlake Community Alliance – 05/23/2013


Meeting Summary
Superintendent Michael Thurmond and board reps Jim McMahan and Ms. Karen Carter answered questions for Northlake Community Alliance (NCA) on Thursday 05/23/2013. Van Johnson, Vice Chairman of NCA, selected and read the questions from a stack of cards turned in beforehand by the audience. While it was a discussion among friends, our speakers gave us some good information even if they fumbled with some of the facts.
Important Issues

Career Readiness
Career readiness will be a high priority for Mr. Thurmond’s interim tenure.  With a $3 million dollar grant from the Department of Technical and Adult Education, DCSS will attempt to replicate the Rockdale Career Academy which offers a wide variety of “Career Pathways” from emergency medical technicians to law enforcement.
Dual Accreditation
Ms. Karen Carter appears to be in agreement with Mr. Thurmond over dual accreditation, saying, “One of the things that’s important to us first and foremost is restoring full accreditation with SACS.”  Dual accreditation is on the 06/03/2013 Work Session agenda for discussion, but it is not scheduled to be voted on during the Business Meeting.  Orson and Coleman are listed as the presenters.  If the discussion goes well, the board may decide to place action on GAC accreditation on the Business Meeting agenda.  Terry Nall, Dunwoody City Councilman, has invited representatives from GAC to be available for any last minute questions.
Cell Towers
DeKalb County Commissioner, Stan Watson, was there to provide a cell tower update.  “It is being reviewed right now by our legal department.  And we want to make sure that we address the item of the cell towers in such a way that we could be responsible to the legalities of the cell tower.  We’re trying to treat it just like a special land use plan right now, SLUP, to make sure that we’re in complete compliance legally to make sure that it works.  So, right now, it has been tabled, Tom.  And we’re actually looking at it in our legal department.  It should come out this summer and we’ll be happy to come back and report what we’re going to do with it.  But, right now, we have it in our legal department to make sure that we can do it as a legal department and as a county.”

DCSS Updates
Highlights given by Superintendent Thurmond

  • “The district is moving in the right direction.”
  • Three (3) of the top fifteen (15) performing high schools in Georgia, according to a US News and World Report article are located in DeKalb.
  • Implementation of the balanced calendar has been delayed.
  • The “Success For All” program was reevaluated and eliminated.
  • “DCSS will not lose accreditation.”


Fact Checker

FALSE
Question: Will the Kittredge magnet program be moved to Avondale?
Thurmond: “There are no plans that I’m aware of.“
McMahan: “We had considered centralizing the magnet program a year or two ago … We’ve not reconsidered the centralization of it.“
Superintendent Thurmond may not be “aware of” any plans, but the SPLOST IV Proposed Organization Facilities Presentation clearly indicates the system’s SPLOST IV management department is making plans to use Kittredge ES as a swing space during the Austin ES rebuild. Their current proposal is to move Kittredge to Midway during this time.
FALSE
Question: Are you going to take after school program funds into the general fund to balance the budget?
Thurmond: “And I said at the budget hearing, I have no past, present or future intent or desire to use these monies in any way other than what was first provided.“
When after school monies were first brought to the attention of the board, Mr. Thurmond said he was instructed by the board to push every penny he could find into the classroom. He further indicated without a policy specifically instructing the administration what to do with after school monies, he was left with no option but to appropriate after school money into the general fund and use it for the classroom.
TRUE
McMahan: “I was at Lakeside last night … We had 307 graduates. The diversity among the students. They don’t look like … me. It’s unbelievable. ”
Mr. McMahan is correct. Not only white people graduate from Tucker High School.
UNDETERMINED
Thurmond: “We cut legal fees by what … $6 million. Half of that cut went to purchase 1 furlough day.”
The budget for legal fees was cut by $6 million, but it remains to be seen whether or not legal fees were actually cut by $6 million. Thurmond’s plan for cutting legal fees is still vague, so I retain a healthy skepticism. The administration has a history of under budgeting expenses to make the public think they are cost cutting but they over spend.
FALSE
Question: The Georgia State study a couple of years ago found that there were too many middle managers at the district office compared to Gwinnett and Cobb Counties. Do you have plans to implement any of the study’s findings?
Thurmond: “They were implemented. And, they’ve been implemented in this budget. $5 million of the nearly $18 million that we are cutting is salaries and staff“
If $5 million is going to be staff cuts, then they haven’t already been implemented. Mr. Thurmond has said, several times, that 600 positions have been cut, but DCSD has not provided any evidence, to date, to support this claim.

Graduation Rates – http://www.myajc.com/news/ga-grad-rates-2012/

School Name 2012 Graduation Rate 2011 Graduation Rate Difference
Dekalb Early College Academy 94.74 92.86 1.88
DeKalb School of the Arts 91.53 96.83 -5.3
Arabia Mountain High School 90.22 85.71 4.51
Chamblee Charter High School 81.64 81.67 -0.03
Tucker High School 78.13 72.42 5.71
Redan High School 77.67 78.79 -1.12
Dunwoody High School 76.52 80.84 -4.32
Stephenson High School 70.47 79.21 -8.74
Druid Hills High School 69.14 62.13 7.01
Southwest DeKalb High School 67.93 66.73 1.2
Stone Mountain High School 65.37 72.88 -7.51

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Posted in Jim McMahan, Karen Carter, Michael Thurmond

04/23/2013 – Thurmond at TPC

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | 12 comments

Tucker Parent Council
Tue 04/23/2013 @ 6:30 PM

Meeting Summary
Michael Thurmond met with a concerned but agreeable Tucker Parent Council Tuesday afternoon on 4/23. Most of the concerns centered around over crowding and affidavits. Kirk Lunde, local watch dog, came prepared with capacity and planning data to back up parental concerns. Mr. Thurmond came prepared himself, bringing in tow Dan Drake, Director of Planning and SPLOST Programming at DeKalb County School District. As usual, the current data, as reported by Mr. Drake, didn’t match the data Mr. Lunde captured in recent reports. “At the end of the day”, as Mr. Thurmond likes to say, the real solution will be in fixing our low performing schools. One of his talking points on his county wide Parent Council tour is Enlighted Self Interest. “Enlightened self interest”, as defined by Mr. Thurmond, “will allow you to rise above the interest in your own child, your own school, your own neighborhood and become interested in the education of other people’s children.”
DCSD Updates

  • Top 15 High Schools – US News and World Report reported that 3 of the top 15 high schools in Georgia are in DeKalb.
  • Scholarships – DeKalb Chamber of Commerce raised about $125,000 dollars that will be distributed as scholarships.
  • Nepotism – A new nepotism policy will be addressed at the May board meeting.
  • Success For All – Surveys have returned, to no surprise, that teachers who have been using it are very much opposed to it.
  • Balanced Calendar – DCSD decided to backup and re-evaluate the balanced calendar
  • SACS – Looking forward to and excited about the upcoming visit.
  • $16 Million Dollar Deficit – In 2014 we will have an additional $16 million dollars in expenditures that we did not have in 2013
  • Enlightened Self Interest – Enlighted Self Interest will allow you to rise above the interest in your own child, your own school, your own neighborhood and become interested in the education of other people’s children.

Fact Checker

FALSE
Thurmond: “I was surprised actually to find out that DeKalb does not currently have a policy prohibiting nepotism. We couldn’t find that we’ve ever had one. So, if you don’t have a policy against it, it’s kind of difficult to what … violate it.“
There is an Employment Of Relatives Policy, but it just doesn’t use the word ‘Nepotism’. The policy is consistent with state law which prevents the hiring and promotion of relatives of the board to positions of AP or higher. It delineates when board members must abstain from voting on a hire. It demands that every employee disclose all familial relationships with the board and senior staff. If an employee does not, they are subject to termination.
C. EMPLOYMENT OF RELATIVES
“The District permits the employment of qualified relatives of employees, provided such employment does not, in the judgment of the Superintendent or his/her designee, create actual or perceived conflicts of interest. d. All District employees are required to disclose, on an annual basis, whether they are a relative of any other current District employee.”
TRUE
Thurmond: “State mandates and increases in insurance and benefits and step increases have increased our expenditures by about $16 million dollars.”
While it is true that benefit costs determined by the state have increased, this happens frequently. DCSD should be able to build in some increases to benefits just as private companies are forced to do. Please note that step increases are not COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) raises for employees. They are increases in pay required by the state’s pay scale of years employed.
FALSE
Thurmond: “You all may or may not be aware, and it’s been over a decade since the DeKalb School District had or implemented or even followed a strategic plan for the district. Even had one.“
In 2011, DCSD spent a great deal of time and money on this strategic plan. As recommended by SACS, DCSD contracted with GSBA to “assure that the 2012–2017 plan is congruent with current and future needs, the 2011 Strategic Steering Committee will solicit input from parents, teachers, students, administrators, auxiliary staff, business, and civic leaders in order to develop the district’s strategic plan.”
TRUE
Thurmond: “20% of our population speaks English as a second language.”
UNDETERMINED
Parent: “So, how many [students] are currently attending Tucker High School?”
Kirk Lunde: “1,756”
Dan Drake: “Our last enrollment report, March 25th, showing 1,655”
I’m incredulous the administration never pulls out the same number twice. I’m convinced whoever is in charge of enrollment/capacity numbers could count their ears twice and come up with a different number each time.
Note: Kirk’s numbers are from October.

12 Comments

Posted in Michael Thurmond