Governor Nathan Deal announced late Wednesday that his office is now accepting applications for the replacement of the six DeKalb County School Board members he suspended Monday. Individuals interested in applying for one of six positions or nominating someone for one of the positions, have until Wednesday, March 6 at 5pm to submit an application.
In ordered to be considered, applicants should send the following information to:
dekalbschoolboardnominations@georgia.gov
1. Legal name, contact information and home address
2. District seat for which one is applying
3. Resume, CV and/or brief biography
4. Statement of interest
The Governor’s five member appointed panel to nominate replacements will start right away reviewing potential candidates for the seats, even with the legal question of constitutionality hanging over thier heads.
The applicants will be considered to replace: Sarah Copelin-Wood, District 3; Jesse "Jay" Cunningham, District 5; Donna Edler, District 7, Nancy Jester, District 1; Dr. Pam Speaks, District 8; and Dr. Eugene Walker, District 9.
The State School Board based its recommendations to the Governor on findings of DeKalb board misconduct and financial mismanagement. In December 2012 SACS released its detailed report of District problems and placed the Dekalb County school System's accreditation on probation.
Some of the DeKalb Board members maintian that the findings do not support the work that the board has done to meet SACS requirements or individual wrong doing. While some board member plan to continue to fight to save their jobs and challenge the Georgia law, according to WSB-TV, there has also been talk of board resignation to avoiding the legal battle.
On Thursday the DeKalb County Chapter of the NAACP called the state law that gives the governor the power to suspend the elected officials unconstitutional. In a press conference at the Georgia State Captiol, the NAACP objected to Governor Deal's decision to go forward with suspending the six board members. Fox 5 News reports that John Evans, the president of the NAACP DeKalb County branch is calling it a "voting right's issue".
"The people should be able to take them out when they want to take them out," Evans said.
At this time the hearing in U-S district Court is still scheduled for Friday at 2pm to address the constitutionality of the Georgia law allowed for the removal of local school board members.
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