Dr. Tinsley brings 25+ years of servant leadership, a love of community and a genuine passion for education. Why is there "Secrecy" in selecting a superintendent? The average SAT score for students graduating in 2019-2020, with critical reading, writing and mathematics results combined. The only requirement now is that districts operate for a minimum of 75,600 minutes. Woods said the state will be in touch with the board to help develop "immediate, short-term, and long-term plans.". Copyright 2023 Arrow Educational Services, Inc. Administrators hired eight teachers working to get certified, but there were still two positions that were never filled. Yet the board still rejected a proposed plan to modernize, which would have fixed many of the issues students said plagued the nearly century-old building. Hull-Daisetta Independent School District superintendent Tim Bartram noticed they'd lost some students to three neighboring districts Devers ISD, Liberty ISD and Hardin ISD that switched. . A school superintendent provides the leadership required for converting a shared vision of educational excellence into reality. #iLoveDCSD To learn more about Dr. Tinsley: https://t.co/Hu7HAcBlEn pic.twitter.com/lMz8ydMSen. DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. DeKalb Countys fired school superintendent says she is a woman of integrity and has not been told why she was terminated. Its something that couldnt be done in a year, it would have to be planned out, she added. Asked whether they want to continue for the fourth year, 76% of parents said the schedule has had a positive effect on their child and 65% said their child was as successful or more successful in school. Varsity Girls Softball vs Rewater @ DeKalb. New Boston ISD "Trust happens when what you say matches what you do." CONTACT US: New Boston ISD 201 Rice Street New Boston , Texas 75570 Phone: 903-628-2521 Fax: 903-628-8990 After students publiclycalled out Druid Hills Highand put renovations back on the agenda, the DeKalb County School Board voted not to make changesto the building. "I was unaware that my contract or employment would be discussed during todays meeting as I was not notified and it was not identified on the meeting notice," she wrote. We appreciate Mrs. Cheryl Watson-Harris for her service to the DeKalb County School District and wish her the best in her future endeavors, board chair Vickie B. Turner said. View a more comprehensive breakdown of the higher ed outcomes in Region 08. While there are some concerns about the four-day weeks impact on test scores, Michelle Francis, superintendent at Silverton Independent School District, says STAAR scores have actually increased since the shorter week took effect last year. State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced these distinctions on February 16. DeKalb superintendent criticized over district's handling of COVID-19. Federal Report Card Letter Hubbard ISD 2022 Spanish; Federal Report Card State 2022 Our schools explorer shows the accountability ratings from the 2018-2019 school year when available. In the scathing message, state school superintendent Richard Woods scolded the county board members for not taking swift action to improve conditions at the school. DeKALB, Texas The DeKalb Independent School District Board of Trustees approved moving to a four-day school week starting next school year by a vote Monday night. To change this setting: (Any questions and answers will post here for all to see). 15 DeKalb County Schools Recognized as 2023 Advanced Placement Honor Schools by the Georgia Department of Education (STONE MOUNTAIN, GA)- Fifteen DeKalb County School District (DCSD) high schools were named 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools. The CFO would play a key role in crafting any budget. If you like what we do, consider becoming a paid supporter. As smaller, rural districts in the area struggle with the ongoing teacher shortage, the new schedule format is meant to reduce teacher stress and become a key tool in the recruitment of teachers. Yes, I have, Watson-Harris said. In April, the Pewitt Consolidated Independent School District board unanimously voted to transition to a four-day week starting the upcoming school year. I was notified by the board of education chair and vice chair that I was terminated. Close. The termination signifies a boiling point as tensions around Druid Hills High School's renovations or lack there of rather arise. They carry a pretty heavy load right now. New Boston ISD is expected to vote on the same topic Thursday, April 21. The board remains fully committed to an open and transparent process and supporting the students of DCSD., In a news release, the district did not give a reason as to why the board decided to fire Watson-Harris but said their relationship with her had been deteriorating for some time to the point the association became irreconcilable.. The parents who are working say it gives their kids an extra day to sort of unwind from school and maybe more playtime.. DaCosta said the district has received numerous inquiries for its vacancies, including the office of superintendent. The dropout rate for students in grades 9-12 during the 2019-2020 school year. Cheryl Watson-Harris spoke exclusively with Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne on Thursday, just two days after the board of education voted to remove her as superintendent. Our primary mission is assisting school boards in the selection of a superintendent. The average ACT composite score for students graduating in 2019-2020. A district survey found that 86% of students, 78% of staff and 68% of parents were in favor of the growing trend. Sign up for our free newsletter by clickinghere. Board of education fires DeKalb County Schools superintendent. Watson-Harris was named superintendent for DeKalb Schools in June 2020. The changing environment of school finance presents a set of challenges unique to other governmental entities. We are so confident of our success that we offer an unmatched guarantee -- if you are not satisfied with our work, DON'T PAY US. July report from the Texas American Federation of Teachers, bill passed by the 84th Texas Legislature, UNT Health Science Center to open nursing school to address national shortage, Racist and insensitive messages spray-painted at two Eagle Mountain-Saginaw schools, We have the best right here. Grapevine-Colleyville names lone finalist for superintendent, Former Colleyville Heritage principal files lawsuit against district, board member, Police identify Crowley ISD teacher charged with assault, improper student relationship. In Mineral Wells, there are optional instructional Fridays for elementary students, with 55 students signed up so far. As Executive Director of Elementary Education, Dr. The percentage of students who started ninth grade in 2016-2017 and received a high school diploma on time by Aug. 31, 2021. Theres some bigger schools around our area here that have increased their pay scale. Decaturish is now on Mastadon. There is a shortage of qualified candidates, and those with senior-level experience have multiple leadership opportunities from which to choose. Students in Dekalb ISD are part of the Texas Education Agency's Region 08. We also had a chemistry position open half the year and ended up going through three different substitutes. Its bad. Druid Hill High School was on the priority list for renovations in 2022, but the school board voted to take it off in February. As of the 2020-2021 school year, it had 756 students. And then when we did come back in 2021, most of the things that we would have ever done with it were out the window, you couldnt do anymore, because of all the restrictions.. The firing follows weeks of reports on the bad conditions at Druid Hills High School, where her own child attends. DeKalb County, GA DeKalb County Schools officials are crafting a budget for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins on July 1. The percentage of test-taking students in grades 11 and 12 who passed at least one AP or IB exam in the 2019-2020 school year. I was not given any reason for termination, Watson-Harris said. DeKalb County, GA The DeKalb County School Board has received 26 applications for its superintendent vacancy, according to the Georgia School Boards Association, which is helping the board with its search. Stone Mountain, GA 30083 | P: 678.676.1200. Its bad. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Your support keeps our content free for everyone. For as little as $6 a month, you can help us keep you in the loop about your community. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state "Instead of moving deliberately and decisively in line with my recommendations, the board chose to largely meet this moment with dysfunction and deflection," Woods wrote. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. The district has received two-dozen applications to replace Watson-Harris. Superintendent DeKalb ISD Jul 2012 - Present10 years 2 months West Texas Superintendent Responsive Education Solutions Feb 2010 - Aug 20111 year 7 months Adjunct Professor Wayland Baptist. Childcare for the younger students was an issue, forcing elementary teachers to still have classes on the fifth day. After implementing a 4% raise, Ward was still able to hire enough teachers for the school year. At its Dec. 12 meeting, the school board awarded a $761,000 contract to Plante Moran, PLLC to audit how the district is spending special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) money. The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) remains committed to filling essential leadership roles with highly qualified administrators who can carry out the mission of the District, spokesperson Donald Porter said. The head of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, Verdaillia Turner, told Channel 2's Richard Belcher that the school district needs to start over. DeKalb County Schools has nine vacancies in superintendent's office Dan Whisenhunt Feb 15, 2023 Interim Superintendent Dr. Vasanne Tinsley remarks during DeKalb County Board of Education's Oath of Office Ceremony at the Robert R. Freeman Administrative & Instructional Complex in Stone Mountain on Friday Jan. 6, 2023. ), Print Headline: DeKalb ISD votes in favor of four-day school week. Last school year, the DeKalb Independent School District in East Texas struggled to recruit enough educators to teach its 800 students. I know that both as the superintendent and also as a mother my son is a tenth grader at Druid Hills.. 2023. Regional nursing schools turned away 30,000 qualified applicants the past two years for lack of space. A student is identified as being at risk of dropping out of school based on state-defined criteria. To help ease students, teachers and parents into the new schedule, several districts are providing meals, low-cost childcare and academic enrichment on days off. The Board of Education and superintendent appreciate these individuals for their support of DeKalb County Schools.. Teachers, however, are not the only ones who would benefit from a four-day instructional week, Galloway said. Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_4_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.4 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1. We are asking for the things we need to succeed in life. Sauce is the proud husband and father to his wife and twin boys. 2023 Cox Media Group. New Summerfield Independent School District in East Texas, with just over 500 students, is making the change starting Aug. 8. N/A No data is available, or the number is zero. Because we couldnt fill it, we had one pre-K classroom with 35 students last year, superintendent Chris Galloway says. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. Before returning to DCSD, Dr. DeKalb ISD DeKalb Middle School 7th Grade Science, 6th-8th Grade STEAM, 8th Grade CTE Horticulture Read Biography Janie Coheen Judson ISD Elolf Elementary School PreK Read Biography Eric Hale Dallas ISD David G. Burnet Elementary 1st & 2nd Grade Self-Contained Read Biography Tiffany Kilcoyne Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD Hurst Junior High School You have more time to give remediation during those periods also.. The total number of students divided by the total full-time equivalent count of teachers for 2020-2021. We had been getting for several years a lot of brand new teachers, which does impact student learning, because it takes a brand new teacher a few years to get accustomed to everything and get their craft going, Sims said. Have you obtained legal counsel to keep your job? Winne asked Watson-Harris. It has 10 schools and 5,648 students. Sauce supervised and supported the 11 elementary schools and principals within GSCS, and the Districts Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) program, English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, elementary Gifted Education program, and elementary counseling program. As of Thursday, the projection is slightly over 61% and tracking toward the state threshold of 67%. Our board would have to approve it. We have some teachers that say before they were struggling to get the curriculum covered, Francis said. Union says DeKalb schools should tear up new contract containing vague performance factors. Masked This statistic is hidden because it may make it possible to identify a student. RELATED: Vote to make repairs at Druid Hills High School still comes with opposition. Associate Superintendent, Office of Continuous Improvement, Associate Superintendent, Leadership and Schools, Coordinator III, Intergovernmental Relations. That was after a bill passed by the 84th Texas Legislature amended the Texas Education Code, no longer requiring 180 days of instruction. Not so much, Everything you need to know about the 4-day school week some Texas districts are using, 41 Texas school districts are now on 4-day school weeks. And so we hope that this extra day off for students will help them.. How would you characterize in a word, or a sentence if you need it, the state of the DeKalb County School System? Winne asked Watson-Harris. He earned his Doctor of Education degree from the University of Southern California, his Master of Education degree from the University of California Los Angeles, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from California State University Long Beach. A passing score on the AP exam is a 3, 4 or 5. 02 Mar. Before being hired in DeKalb County, Watson-Harris served as first deputy chancellor, senior director of field support and . Students in Dekalb ISD are part of the Texas Education Agencys Region 08. Welcome to our newly updated website! After a few months, the pandemic made implementing the schedule a nightmare for administrators. The school board is also looking for a new superintendent to replace Cheryl Watson-Harris, nearly a year after firing her and appointing Interim Superintendent Dr. Vasanne Tinsley. And New Summerfield went from 98% daily attendance to 94% Monday through Thursday and 90% Friday. Interim Superintendent, DeKalb County School District Dr. Vasanne S. Tinsley serves as interim superintendent of the DeKalb County School District, managing the day-to-day operations of a diverse educational system with more than 94,000 students, 14,500 employees and a budget of $2.6 billion. Board Member Jason Wilson, left, Superintendent Chris Galloway and Board President Kyle Dooley have a discussion Monday, April 18, 2022, during a DeKalb Independent School District board meeting. DCSD continues to broaden its executive search process to locate the right individuals for these essential roles. The Information Technology department comprises of customer service-oriented professionals dedicated to the integration and implementation of technology across Dekalb County School District. Four-day school weeks are gaining popularity among small, rural school districts in Texas. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Copyright 1999 2023 GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC. 4.5% of students were enrolled in bilingual and English language learning programs. They are doing so without key personnel in place, including a chief financial officer. Dr. Norman C. Sauce III began serving the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) as Region IV Superintendent in November 2022. Texas assigns ratings to districts and campuses that designate their performance in relation to the state's accountability system. These figures are expressed as a percentage of the total teacher full-time equivalent. Wanting to apply for a position? Prior to the change, the district conducted a survey and found that 75% of students, 78% of parents and 100% of teachers were interested in the four-day week. Twenty-seven Texas districts implemented the change for the 2022-2023 school year, hoping to attract and retain teachers. The board has the utmost confidence in Dr. Tinsley serving as the interim superintendent. Some, like Happy Independent School District in the Texas Panhandle, are on a hybrid schedule, with four-day and five-day weeks. Students who started eighth grade in 2008 in this region had a college graduation rate of 23.6 percent. Allow us to assess your instructional needs and provide solutions that will meet the expectations of your community and taxpayers. When Decaturish asked DaCosta if not having a CFO will be a concern as the district develops its budget, he said, Not at all.. We also feel like its going to help us with our mental health program for students, Kuhn said. Sauce served the Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) in the positions of Executive Director of Student Support Services and as Executive Director of Elementary Education. The letter disagrees with the board decision to lump the high school with others for repairs rather than fixing immediate issues. Instead of opting for reconstruction, the board decided to lump Druid Hills with several other schools in line to get repairs. This Crowley ISD school had the districts lowest rating. But are they the answer? If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. For teachers who also have nonteaching roles, only the portion of time and pay dedicated to classroom responsibilities is factored into the calculation. I am highly concerned that these serious issues in DeKalb County could be a result of a school system choosing politics over students, families, and educators, and as Governor of the State of Georgia, I take very seriously my job to advocate for all Georgia citizens especially our most valuable resource, our students. (See extended coverage in Wednesday's edition of the Gazette. Say if we did Monday through Thursday, they would have to find childcare for Friday. There were hours of discussion and public comment at the meeting. When asked about the vacancies, DaCosta said they have been caused by an abundance of things., There has been a nationwide shortage in teachers and staff in the field of education, so its an abundance of things, he said. The board reviewed those applications in an executive session on Thursday, Feb. 9, according to GSBA spokesperson Justin Pauly. Honestly, we go into it cautiously optimistic, says superintendent Ray Keith. Brian Bobbitt, Superintendent. Superintendent . Community members and teachers showed vast support for the idea during a public hearing held by DeKalb ISD on March 22. Decaturish is now on Post. That was the main driving force of why were not going to a four-day week, said district Chief of Communications and Marketing Nikita Russell. The DeKalb County Board of Education voted to approve a separation agreement with DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris, effective immediately. 2023 Decaturish - Locally sourced news. 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