Bulletin Board

Every February, the U.S. honors the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans who have helped shape the nation. Black History Month celebrates the rich cultural heritage, triumphs, and adversities that are an indelible part of our country's history.

Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black History, founded Negro History week in 1926, and in 1976 it was lengthened into a month.

Mr. Woodson wrote, "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

We appreciate the efforts of City Schools of Decatur to not only teach the history of African Americans, but to also teach the truth about American history, and we will continue to do all that we can as a Board to ensure that CSD's students are never at risk of their history being exterminated.

February 7-11 is National School Week, and the Board wishes to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for our counselors. These individuals are extremely important to student success and the overall health and well-being of our schools. Thank you counselors for all that you do!

This week, I attended the Georgia Senate Education and Youth committee meeting with the intent to testify on SB 377, one of the four anti-critical race theory bills in the legislature currently. These bills are troublesome for many reasons. Unfortunately, I was not able to share our Board’s concerns with the committee. The meeting was limited to allowing the bill's author, Senator Hatchett, the opportunity to present the bill and then take questions from his fellow legislators. The attendees in the meeting were assured that there will be additional opportunities for the legislators to hear from the public, and I look forward to sharing the concerns of CSD’s Board at that time.

It is important for our community to know that these bills not only expand state control as to what is taught and said in Decatur schools and classrooms, but these bills place a tremendous burden on our teachers and school leaders. The Board shared a letter with our legislators regarding the harm legislation like this will have on staff and students.

Our letter states, “City Schools of Decatur vehemently opposes SB 375, SB 377, HB 888, and HB 1084. These bills threaten to harm students, cripple instruction, levy unfunded mandates, impede business, and undermine local control. All of this would be in response to a “problem” that doesn’t exist. Supporters might think this legislation would splash cold water on Critical Race Theory, but instead, it would drown our ability to do basic schooling. Furthermore, we believe that Georgians deserve legislation that doesn’t have its roots in disinformation, and Georgians deserve better than copy-and-paste legislation handed to them by Washington, D.C. “think tanks” that don’t know Georgians' needs. The bills’ chilling effects would extend to addressing Georgia’s egregiously disparate outcomes that manifest on racial lines. We must talk honestly about race itself to address racial disparities, even when it is uncomfortable. These bills undermine educators’ ability to advance educational outcomes for all students.” This is just an excerpt of the Board’s letter to legislators. The full letter can be viewed here.

Winnona Park Principal Ruth Scott shared how the school leveraged its counseling program to support the increased social-emotional needs of the students as they returned to face-to-face learning this year. In addition, Ms. Scott shared a video so all watching could experience the Winnona Park Joy.

Gail Rothman, Executive Director of the Decatur Education Foundation, shared the results of a partnership that DEF did with VOX ATL to hear from Decatur youth on the topic of mental health. In June and July, VOX ATL hosted four listening sessions with teens from City of Decatur schools to solicit their input about their mental health needs, current assets and barriers, and their hopes for the future. In addition, she presented a video that shared the themes which emerged from the listening sessions.

The Board unanimously approved a one-year contract extension for Dr. Fehrman, effective July 1, 2022.

Chief Financial Officer Lonita Broome presented an update on the budget and the impacts of the governor’s budget recommendations on the CSD FY22 and FY23 budgets. You can hear Ms. Broome’s presentation in the meeting recording beginning at 1:08:52.

The January school monthly data report was on the agenda for information. The monthly data reports from principals are provided to support school improvement plans that take a systemic approach to improve student achievement and school quality. These reports will present a graphic summary of important school data to allow the Board easy access to important metrics that the school is measuring to determine how the district and the school are doing on meeting district and school goals. The reports will be updated monthly and posted on the Board of Education agenda to provide all stakeholders with up-to-date information on how the school is progressing in meeting its goals.