Tag Archives: dekalb schools

DeKalb Schools Closing – Coronavirus (COVID-19)

DeKalb County School District (DCSD), in collaboration with other metro area school districts, will close the school district on Monday, March 16, 2020, until further notice. All employees will continue to be paid and will work remotely from home. Student learning will continue through virtual learning assignments in the VERGE platform.

Coronavirus

Throughout the process, DeKalb Schools has relied on the guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DeKalb County Board of Health, Georgia Department of Education, and state leaders. During Thursday’s 3 p.m. press conference, Gov. Kemp communicated the following, “Given the rise of the coronavirus, I am going to issue a call to action. If local communities feel it is prudent, you should consider closing day cares and schools as early as tomorrow through the next two weeks.”

73% of our students receive free or reduced lunch and breakfast. DeKalb Schools is exploring options for providing emergency meal service for students. All district and school sponsored events, activities, meetings, and competitions are cancelled until further notice. It also includes athletics, extracurricular, school events and systemwide events.

Prom – Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety and well-being of our students and staff, ALL 2020 Junior-Senior Proms will be postponed until further notice. Principals will be directed to contact their venue to inform them of the necessity to postpone. They will also immediately notify their Senior Class Sponsor(s) and parents of members of both the junior and senior classes. It is the school district’s hope that the contracted venues will work with the schools to reschedule all of the PROMS at a later date.

School Supplies – It is currently undetermined when/if students will be able to access their school for books and other materials they will need for the upcoming virtual learning.

Length of Closure – Governor Kemp recommended closing for 2 weeks. According to the CDC, most people will be able to recover from COVID-19 at home. The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person. The estimated average incubation period of COVID-19 is 5 days and it is expected that nearly all infected persons who have symptoms will do so within 12 days of infection. The current period of active monitoring recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 14 days.

More information will be forthcoming. I’ll post information as I get it.

TSA & Annexation – Legal Update

TSA

In 2009, the DeKalb County School District stopped payment on TSA, a supplemental retirement fund for district employees. (Note: The TSA is separate and apart from the TRS) Plaintiffs claim this was in direct violation of the contract the district agreed to and resulted in the loss of millions of dollars for district employees.
In 2017, Judge Gregory Adams of the Superior Court of DeKalb County dismissed the employees’ lawsuit entirely and withheld ruling on class certification. Plaintiffs appealed.
Last week on June 1, 2018, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued an Opinion that
1) overturned the dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims;
2) determined that the District is liable as a matter of law for breaching its legal duty to the employees;
3) ruled the Plaintiffs were entitled to judgment on liability in their favor, with only issues of damages calculations remaining for trial by jury; and
4) ruled that the trial court must reconsider class certification in light of the Gold III Opinion.
RELATED POSTS AND DOCS

TSA – 2017 Summary Judgement
July 11, 2017 – In 2009, the DeKalb County School District stopped payment on TSA, a supplemental retirement fund for district employees. DeKalb teacher Elaine Gold and school psychologist Amy Shaye filed suit against the district in June 2011. In the 2016-17 school year alone, DeKalb Schools spent in excess of $2.5 million on this case.


Emory & CDC Annexation

DeKalb Schools sues city of Atlanta over Emory, CDC annexation
By: Marlon Walker (AJC)
The DeKalb County School District is taking legal action against the city of Atlanta over what district officials call an “11th-hour change” to the annexation of Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control.
The annexation — 744 acres, the largest by Atlanta since Buckhead was annexed 65 years ago — was approved by the Atlanta City Council on Dec. 4. The area became part of Atlanta in January. The students affected will become part of the Atlanta Public Schools system on July 1.
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