Newspaper Page Text
EDUCATION
THURSDAY, MAY 24 - 30, 2018 • Page 14
City Schools of Decatur declines to pay for special needs report, citing concerns
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
City Schools of Decatur
(CSD) superintendent David
Dude said the district has
not paid for a report on the
district’s special education
program prepared by Georgia
State University (GSU).
In a statement, Dude said
the district has not paid for the
report, despite a school board
vote in December 2016 that
approved a payment to GSU
of $92,947 in four installments
in January, April, July and
October 2017.
The report, presented at the
May 8 CSD Board of Education
meeting, was based on nine
months of research, according
to executive director of GSU
Urban Child Study Center
Nicole Patton-Terry..
The report was not well
received by some parents.
“I left with more questions
than answers,” president of
the CSD Special Education
Parent Teacher Association
Kara Campbell wrote on her
organizations Facebook page.
“Will we have access to the
whole report? Or were the
slides the whole report?”
Comments on Campbell’s
post echoed her dissatisfaction.
Campbell suggested the
formation of an independent
committee of parents and
stakeholders to form a plan of
action beyond public comment
at the next board meeting June
14.
“When we received the
report, we identified concerns
similar to those shared by
others and are working with
GSU to address those areas
where we believe the contract
was not fully realized,” Dude
said in a statement. “No funds
have been paid to GSU to
date and will continue to be
withheld pending resolution of
these concerns.”
CSD officials declined
to comment beyond the
statement at press time. Dude
has not revealed how the
district has avoided paying
GSU
Patton-Terry did not return
The Champions request for
comment.
The report, which is
available on the CSD website,
presented several findings and
recommendations, including
that CSD is growing rapidly
This growth has resulted in
an increase in the number of
students with special education
needs. Since 2011, the number
of students served by CSD
schools with special education
needs has nearly tripled,
according to the report.
The report also found
that shifts in the disability
populations served has created
challenges with service delivery
and communication between
families, teachers, schools, and
administration.
The contract between
CSD and GSU approved by
the board of education in
December 2016 stipulates that
GSU representatives should be
made available to meet with
CSD officials at times and
places mutually agreed upon
to discuss the project during
the time the project is being
performed. It is not clear that
any such meetings occurred.
education approves $10,000 donation to feed homeless students
County board of
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
The DeKalb County School
District (DCSD) Board of
Education unanimously
approved a $10,000 donation
from Publix to help the district
feed its reported homeless
children and their families.
According to DCSD
officials, Publix gift cards
will be purchased with the
donation. The amount of each
gift card will not exceed $25.
Families in need are identified
by school social workers with
the assistance of counselors
in the schools. Upon an
assessment of needs, parents
and students are provided with
donated gift cards, with one for
each school-age child in the
family
The donation is part
of Publix “Food for All”
campaign, designed to fight
hunger and promote self-
sufficiency. According to its
website, the campaign raised
more than $6.4 million in
donations in 2017. Tim
Hilton, store manager of
Publix on Flat Shoals road, said
at the meeting that donations
to the campaign are collected
at registers during the holiday
season.
According to DCSD
Deputy Superintendent
of Student Support and
Intervention Vasanne Tinsley,
approximately 1,800 homeless
students and families within
the district were identified
during the 2016-17 school
year by DCSD’s Homeless
Education Program. That
number has increased to
around 2,000 in the 2017-
18 school year. Tinsley
emphasized that these are
reported cases because families
are not obligated to report
homeless status to the district.
“Homeless children are
twice as likely to experience
hunger when compared to
their non-homeless peers,”
Tinsley said. “Many of these
students receive their only
balanced meals while they are
at school. Providing this extra
support will help our needy
students receive healthy food
after school hours.”
Tinsley said DCSD
accepted a $5,000 donation
from the “Food for All”
campaign in 2017, which
allowed it to provide gift cards
to 200 students in 125 families.
“With this larger donation,
we’re hopeful that we will
be able to provide support
to more of our students and
families,” she said.
According to DCSD school
board policy, all monetary gifts
for special projects that exceed
$5,000 must be presented
to the board for formal
acceptance and approval.
Tinsley said, any DCSD
parent or student that is
homeless or economically
disadvantaged may request
assistance for food. To
determine eligibility, an
assessment of the student’s
needs is completed by the
school social worker.
DCSD board member
Vickie Turner noted the
reported increase in homeless
students in the district and
suggested the district seek
more partnerships to help feed
students and families. Tinsley
said DCSD currently has a
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
A group of parents, DeKalb
County School District
(DCSD) bus drivers and
community organizers are
continuing to express concerns
nearly a month after seven bus
drivers were fired for staging a
sickout that resulted in 670 bus
driver absences through three
days.
Several bus drivers
and supporters attended a
community input session
during the May 14 DCSD
Board of Education meeting
in an effort to persuade the
district to rehire the drivers
and address concerns that led
to the sickout.
“I didn’t participate in the
sickout, but if it means having
another sickout to get these
guys their jobs back, then let
me say it now that I will be a
part of that one,” school bus
driver John Crear said during
the session.
The sickout was in response
to concerns drivers said they
have raised with the district
partnership with the Atlanta
Community Food Bank and
the district is working to
for years, such as the safety of
the buses, fair pay and quality
working conditions.
“We do a lot of jobs and it
appears we aren’t considered
when it comes to the budget
and raises,” Crear said.
DeKalb parent Heather
Sabel-Sowers attended the
session and read from a
petition she started on the
website change.org in support
of the bus drivers. The petition
asks DCSD superintendent
Stephen Green to reinstate
the fired drivers and work
with drivers to resolve their
concerns.
“We want to be able to
continue to say that we support
your administration and your
policies,” the petition reads.
“We want to know that our
childrens' drivers are happy
and proud at work, rather than
afraid of the administration or
their future.”
Sabel-Sowers said she
started the petition with
the intention of gathering
100 signatures. So far, it has
gathered more than 200
signatures.
A supporter who spoke
said the district’s response to
expand the number of schools
the food bank supports.
the sickout sends a message to
students that “they must not
stand up for their rights or the
rights of others unless they
want to face swiff and cruel
punishment.”
“Is this the message we want
to send to our children?” she
asked.
In a press conference April
19, Green cited a Georgia
law against public employee
strikes and said the sickout
jeopardized the safety of
students. DCSD officials
released a document April 23
stating that DCSD bus drivers
are the second-highest paid
school bus drivers among
their peers in metro Atlanta
school districts, including those
in Cobb County, Gwinnett
County, Atlanta and Fulton
County The district also said
bus drivers have received five
cost-of-living pay raises since
2014.
After the session, Green
cautioned drivers against
staging another sickout, saying
it “wouldn’t be wise.”
He also said rehiring of fired
drivers “will not be happening.”
Supporters continue to
advocate for fired bus drivers