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School board members discuss
superintendent search
BY HANNAH GRECO
hannah@reporternewspapers.net
Atlanta Board of Education members spoke about the search for a new superinten
dent and other updates about the district at a Jan. 28 North Atlanta Parents for Pub
lic Schools meeting.
Board Chair Jason Esteves said the search is about taking the Atlanta Public Schools
district from a successful “turnaround” into new growth.
In September, the board decided to not renew Superintendent Meria Carstar-
phen’s contract. Her contract expires June 30.
“All of us acknowledge that Dr. Carstarphen was the right leader when we hired
her in 2014,” Esteves said at the meeting, held at Morris Brandon Elementary. “She is
a turnaround leader. She came in and grabbed the school system and gave it the shak
ing that it needed and because of that, we are on a stronger foundation than we were
five years ago.”
But, Esteves said, looking forward, board members are faced with the decision of
when to bring in a new superintendent and what type of leader they should be.
“We know for a fact as a board that we are not at a place where we can just bring
somebody in that’s going to maintain where we’re at because where we’re at is still
not acceptable,” Esteves said. “But we also believe that we’re not at a place where we
need that turnaround leader. We believe we need a leader who can drive that growth.”
But Carstarphen has said she wants to stay in her current position. “I think my
track record for not only the turnaround work, but our overall growth and improve
ment as a district speaks for itself,” Carstarphen said in an email. “I’m appreciative
of everyone who had a part in improving the quality of education for Atlanta’s stu
dents.”
Esteves said the search is well on its way and interviews for candidates will begin
soon. “We plan on moving pretty quickly,” Esteves said. “We plan on knowing what
the pool is in March.”
Esteves said the district is attracting a wide range of candidates from large coun
ty school systems in Florida, the west and the midwest, as well as Atlanta-sized cities.
“Our consultants have told us it’s going to be a pretty difficult decision because
we’re getting some pretty good applicants,” Esteves said.
Board member Cynthia Briscoe-Brown spoke about some updates in APS, includ
ing the new equity policy, facilities master planning and strategic planning.
Last year, APS created an equity policy, which is the first of its kind in the school
system. The policy states that APS believes that every child should get what they need
to be successful in college, career and life.
“It’s our ‘this I believe’ statement,” Briscoe-Brown said. “Our statement about
what’s important, what direction we want to go and the foundational core elements
about who we are as a system.”
“It affects every single thing we do,” she added.
The district is also amid facilities master planning, which is looking at all the prop
erties APS owns and figuring out how to best allocate them. Much of that is being
used for active schools and administrative buildings, Briscoe-Brown said, but the dis
trict also owns a fair amount of vacant land and surplus buildings.
“We’re looking to create guidelines for what to do with the property we’re not us
ing right now,” Briscoe-Brown said. “What can we do with that piece of land that ben
efits our students, our families and our city?”
APS is looking at ways to contribute to alleviate to the affordable housing crisis or
selling the land to put back into school programs, Briscoe-Brown said.
The district is also creating a five-year master plan, which will go into effect in July
2020.
“That will guide the steps of the district for the next five years,” Briscoe-Brown said.
Board members Nancy Meister and Michelle Olympiadis were also in attendance.
Atlanta City Councilmember J.P. Matzigkeit, who represents Buckhead, was in at
tendance and briefly spoke to parents about taxes.
“We are making sure that we keep taxes low but also that we look at our commer
cial taxes and be sure that they are equitable and that people are paying their fair
share and we don’t have too big of a burden on residential property tax folks,” Matzig
keit said.
Matzigkeit also mentioned his interest in putting speed cameras in school zones.
In 2018, state law was passed to regulate drivers by allowing cities to place cameras in
school zones. Some metro Atlanta cities have approved the new cameras, but Atlanta
has not pursued the legislation yet.
“I’m a big proponent of sidewalks and making sure that we have safe ways for kids
to walk to school,” Matzigkeit said.
