Should APS' Board of Education Extend Erroll Davis' Contract?
Though superintendent has his detractors, many parents rally around him and want to keep him. One Grant Park mom has even started a petition to extend the contract.
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Just when parents thought the drama at Atlanta Public Schools was settling down, there's a new chapter in the saga.
On Monday, the APS Board of Education was to have taken up the issue of whether or not to extend the Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr.'s contract for two years.
But the board, after some lengthy discussion, opted to delay voting on it until a special meeting called for Monday, Dec. 10. Board members — after a strong push by Nancy Meister, who represents Buckhead — decided that a supermajority of its nine members would have to vote to extend Davis' contract in order to keep him.
That means seven will have to vote "yea" instead of the simple majority of five.
While Davis has his share of detractors — a good number of them from Meister's district who are irked by a round of adminstrative firings at North Atlanta High School that Davis enacted— he has strong contingent of supporters who see him a much-needed administrator that APS needed.
What's more, with some board members not seeking reelection, Cecily Harsch-Kinnane among them, some parents caution now isn't the time to start a search for new superintendent.
Suzanne Mitchell, a Summerhill parent and that neighborhood's president-elect, told board members the district is still in transition, the district's blog, Talk Up APS, reported. With some board members stepping down, she said the board should wait until after the 2013 elections before starting a search.
Mitchell's sentiments are echoed by Andrea Knight, a Grant Park parent who started a petition on Change.org to get the board to extend Davis' contract.
"The election year handicaps the search process. ... The best applicants can't even be confident they would be permitted to continue when the new board members begin their terms in January 2014," she wrote in the petition.
"Erroll Davis is the best person to serve as interim superintendent," she continued. "Davis has proven he is a non-political leader, capable of making tough decisions. Davis came to APS at a moment of chaos, following a decade of turmoil and educational neglect."
Even Mayor Kasim Reed has thrown his support behind Davis for a two-year extension.
At a Commerce Club luncheon last month, he said: “I happen to believe that Erroll Davis is the right guy to lead us for the next two years,” SaportaReport.com reported.
It wasn't too long ago that Davis a former member of the Georgia Board of Regents, arrived to APS — at one of one of the lowest points in district history.
There was the national cheating scandal in which former Superintendent Beverly Hall left in disgrace. And the school board, known for its infighting and shenanigans, put the district's accreditation at risk.
Weathering those storms, Davis had the unenviable task of leading APS through a controversial schools redistricting and closures to address declining enrollment.
Though it was an angst-ridden process and often pitted neighborhoods against each other, one benefit of the redistricting is that many more parents became engaged.
Davis himself has said he wanted to keep that engagement level high and build on it to improve school quality.
Chris Murphy
7:51 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sign the petition and keep Davis- it's important for the whole city!
http://www.change.org/petitions/extend-erroll-davis?utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=27680915
LVR
8:05 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The vote for the second question isn't working.
Péralte Paul
8:29 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
It should be fixed now, LVR.
H.A. Hurley
8:46 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Still not working
Tank
8:39 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The second question itself tells the reason why the board has no other choice than to extend the superintendents contract....they haven't even started the search for his successor! If not extended, there would either be a hurried search or anther interim appointment. Bad planning on the part of the board has led them to this inevitability.
H.A. Hurley
8:47 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Vote in Patch is not working. Wrong results.
Péralte Paul
9:02 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Sorry everyone is having trouble. I have our tech folks working on it. Should be fixed momentarily.
H.A. Hurley
9:32 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Please reset. Results are not correct at this point.
Debbie Gathmann
11:14 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
I'm surprised Davis even wants to stay--what a hard job! I think he's generally done well and he's done things based on what he believed was best for the system--maybe has had a little trouble communicating with parents and sometimes chickening out on decisions already made . . . but on the whole, he's honest, forthright, and moving forward--what's not to like about all that?
H.A. Hurley
3:56 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Still NOT Working! Q:are you working for the APS Board? Voting until the right results support your position? All results onmthis Patch survey are incorrect!
Péralte Paul
11:21 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Hi, everyone: Our tech folks say it's working fine. The only reason it might not work, they said is if someone is not signed in. Please let me know if you have any questions or problems persist.
Anjin-san
7:45 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
I think Davis should leave, and along with all of the BOE with possible exception for English & Meister. Based upon the meetings I've been to, they seem to be the only ones who have any sense. Besides, isn't it about time for the Board Chair to announce he's running for mayor anyway?
Interim hires shouldn't be making long-term plans. People like him are hired on an interim basis to come in, kick a little ass, clean house, ruffle feathers. They usually don't stay long-term because they tick off a lot of people doing the "dirty work" that needs to be done. Of course he's better than Beverly, but that's not a very high bar to overcome, is it?
His dealings in the redistricting process, the NAHS drama, the Drew expansion drama, possibly setting up APS for lawsuits because many of the those removed from classrooms were not given the full due-process ==> how much support does he really have?
H.A. Hurley
2:09 am on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Agree, especially about the NAHS ambush. What a mess he created and provided ever-changing reasons for the ambush, for about 2-3 weeks. Someone in his position, his education and experience, should have been able to plan and carry out any intervention in a school system. He showed up on a Friday during bus dismissal to remove administrative staff. What nonsense! Time is up. We need to do better!
Chris Murphy
9:33 am on Thursday, December 6, 2012
HA Hurley: Davis didn't show up at NAHS, the director of Curriculum & Instruction, Waldon, did.
MyGrant may have a legal claim, for libel or loss of reputation, but the rest are still employed by APS; they have not suffered a loss (in the legal sense, but I'm no lawyer). Meister & MyGrant have a real estate business together; what the heck is going on there? I'd ask who supports her rather than who supports Davis. No Board member- and that includes Meister & English- have distinguished themselves, except by their missteps, irresponsibility and outright scandals. English makes some good points during the Board meetings- now- but did he just wake up? The entire Board needs to be replaced, none have fulfilled their sworn duty, of oversight of the system. They have all played politics with the system, but none have done any work, only citing their opinions, ad nauseum.
H.A. Hurley
7:45 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The top question has 14 responses and the 2nd question has 5 responses. Still not correct! Scewed results! Do you work for APS?
H.A. Hurley
10:31 am on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Chris Murphy: thanks for the info and clarification! Agree on all this emmeshment and incompetence of Board members/employees. They used to call it the Good Old Boys. Come in different colors and gender, too. However, Dr. Davis did not exhibit professional skills in handeling the NAHS situation. Someone with his credentials and past positions should not have botched it this poorly. Embarrassing for APS and ATL. Why can't we get a decent Super with decent character? They get paid enough. And, if they can't do the job, they should step aside. Dr. Davis, please step aside. You would never have carried yourself in this manner while working for The Bd. of Regents. Fact!
Chris Murphy
12:48 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2012
@H.A.: watch what you wish for. Although I agree the NAHS situation was poorly handled, Davis has done many, many other good things, and has not allowed the politics of situations to sway him. He might be tone-deaf because of that at times, but he has risen above our parochial interests to put plans in place to raise the dismal levels of performance at APS. Is there anyone out there that could handle the current system and its employees, and the Board as well? Remember that 4 of them are not running again, so that any choice now leaves a situation that a new leader would have extremely limited power to keep APS on a path to professionalism, equity and- dare I say it?- excellence.
Navy
11:59 am on Monday, December 10, 2012
Chris: How has Davis "not allowed the politics of situations to sway him"? He completely failed to deal with overcrowding at Inman and Grady because of the politics of a few white parents who didn't want their precious babies to go to school with the Southside riffraff. He set NAHS back a decade based on inaccurate statistics and falsehoods spread by "anonymous tipsters" with a political axe to grind. Once the truth about Bloody Friday came out, he sat there smugly and refused to admit that maybe, just maybe, he had made a mistake. Our children can't wait any longer for a Superintendent who is committed to them instead of the mayor and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.