Bloody Friday at North Atlanta High: APS kicks out old leaders, announces new ones without explanation.
UPDATED Saturday with a comment from principal:
Atlanta Public Schools ousted North Atlanta High School interim principal Mark MyGrant — enticed out of retirement by APS to run the school for three months until a permanent leader could be hired — in dramatic fashion Friday afternoon.
Not only is MyGrant gone, but APS replaced the entire leadership team at the Buckhead high school, reassigning them throughout the system.
In a 30 minute telephone interview today, MyGrant detailed Friday’s events:
Deputy Superintendent Karen Waldon and the interim HR director, accompanied by APS security officers, showed up at the high school at dismissal Friday, intercepting MyGrant as he was about to make the end-of-the day bus announcements. He said he was told to pack and leave North Atlanta High School immediately.
Teachers were assembled and then told that the entire administrative team and the heads of the Small Learning Communities — specialized areas of student interest including arts, journalism, international business and international relations — were being reassigned.
“I was at work when Karen Walden and the interim HR director came in and informed me that my services were no longer needed. I asked if I should move the buses and they told me ‘no,’ that I should leave right now,” said MyGrant. “They started bringing in loads of security and the transition team and they called the teachers to the auditorium. I just gathered my things — l didn’t have much because I had already cleaned out my office when I retired in June.
“Within 15 or 20 minutes, I was done,” said MyGrant. “They didn’t walk me out. Security may have been waiting to walk me out, but I walked out the back door, got in my my car and and went. I would have been happy to leave any time. I was retired. They had announced a new principal. They did not need to do it this way.”
MyGrant is willing to talk about what happened because he wants to clear not only his name, but those of all the educators reassigned Friday. (No word yet from APS.)
“I would be happy to ride off into the sunset. But with all these administrators, hardworking administrators, being reassigned, people are going to say ‘God, there must have been something really corrupt there.’ I owe it to them and myself to let people know there wasn’t anything.”
Meeting with his attorney later today, MyGrant is prepared to present evidence that this episode grew out of what he considers politically motivated and baseless allegations that two of his recommended hires – a graduation coach and English teacher — were racists. “I feel when the community gets the information that I am prepared to present, they will demand the educators who were reassigned be brought back,” he said.
“Regardless of what anyone thinks of my leadership, many other hard working educators were treated unfairly yesterday. Including Melissa Gautreaux, Reginald Colbert, Laura Brazil and John Denine. I was very excited in June to retire and had some exciting plans, which I put on hold after being contacted by APS three times to return. This followed a very botched first attempt to hire a principal in June. In the meantime, students will return to school next week after a fall break to celebrate NAHS Homecoming. This group of kids is a terrific mix of students from all walks of life and are led by a hardworking group of teachers. I wish them all the best.”
He detailed the history of the allegations in an email:
In August I was contacted by Deputy Superintendent Karen Waldon on 3 separate occasions reporting anonymous allegations alleging that I was planning to fire a employee leaving for maternity leave, and was hiring two new teachers that were “racist.” I did all I could do to investigate these claims with the very limited information I received, but one of the teachers never got processed and the one that signed a contract and is currently working has never been approved by the board. Her name was taken off the gains report in August and didn’t return in September or October. I tried for weeks to get answers from the very top on down, but was completely stonewalled. In September, my attorney sent an email to Errol Davis detailing my concerns and asking about the investigation. Later in September, I received from Davis a letter informing me that I was not part of any investigation. An open records request was sent to APS last week from one of the teachers in question. I was asked to submit documents related to this case and prepared approximately 25 documents.
MyGrant retired in June from North Atlanta but was asked by APS to return to oversee the school until the end of October when a permanent principal would take over. Prior to his retirement, MyGrant led North Atlanta for five years and Sutton Middle school for 10. He was a well respected principal in the Buckhead community.
A letter on the North Atlanta High site from APS school chief Erroll B. Davis offers parents no explanation for the sudden removal of MyGrant and the mass reassignment of school leaders, saying only that the high school underwent a “total leadership transition.”
The letter lacks the obligatory expression of gratitude to MyGrant for serving as interim, clearly indicating that this was not a pleasant parting. (You can read the letter and a news story on the high school’s newspaper, the Northerner online.)
Davis says the former principal of Sarah Smith Elementary, Sid Baker, will run the show until the new North Atlanta principal, Howard Taylor of Gwinnett, officially takes command on Oct. 29. Davis also lists eight other “transition” academy leaders and a transition assistant principal.
The dramatic removal of MyGrant has upset many parents, some of whom are contacting the AJC with their questions and concerns. Among the comments from parents:
Today at the closing bell our beloved principal and most of his leadership team were escorted out of the school by a group of APS staffers from downtown. Just three weeks before the end of his contract and two weeks before our IB accreditation, Mark MyGrant and his staff were publicly humiliated in front of teachers and students alike. The “party line” is the new principal wants a clean slate. There’s a lot more to the story than that. What is the real agenda? Obviously, no one is thinking about the disruption this will cause for our children and our IB program.
Parents are asking how Davis can gut the leadership ranks of their school, march in a brand new team of temps and expect the community to support the decision without more information.
Davis closes his letter to North Atlanta parents by saying, “We understand that this will be a time of excitement, as well as a major transition at NAHS…”It’s a new day at North Atlanta.”
The problem may be that parents won’t think it’s a better day.
The AJC will be following up on this situation. I have sent a note to APS for a comment. If I get it, I will post.
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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359 comments Add your comment
USMC
October 6th, 2012
3:08 pm
We need to go back to neighborhood schools. The parasites that are neglecting THEIR neighborhood schools only to take up resources that they don’t pay for in the N. Atlanta neighborhood are the problem.
FIX YOUR OWN SCHOOLS. You have ruined N. Atlanta.
North Atlanta Mom
October 6th, 2012
3:15 pm
North Atlanta is a city school that should embrace students from across the city as the IB program and Center For The Arts are unique programs in APS.
This is how the vastly superior NYC school system is run with students throughout the city welcome at any of the various speciality schools (through audition and application) – i.e. Laguardia School of Performing Arts aka the HS feature in the movie and TV show FAME
Another Comment
October 6th, 2012
3:18 pm
My daughter had a black cheer leading coach in Cobb County that couldn’t cut it as a middle school Social Studies Teacher in Cobb County. She had not passed the State test. Then Cobb Moved her to PE, she knew the writting was on the wall. Then she all of a sudden got a job as a Social Studies teacher in Cobb County, The clock would then start again for her 3 year provesional license in Atlanta. They thought she was going to be able to continue as a cheerleading coach in Cobb, since all the Cheer Coach positions were filled at that time, but someone in Cobb said no.
She was cute personable, but some one said no.
Then the next year, Then at the end of Cheerleading Season we find out in Cobb County the Head Cheer and asst Track Coach was being let go at 3 years. Everyone complains. It turns out she too had a provisional Social Studies License and hadn’t enven tried to take the test. So they told her she had to take the test. She took it barely passed. Came back last year. But know she was let get. Rumor has it she is over in Atlanta. It is an open secret if you are a Black teacher and can not cut it in Cobb or on a provisional license and have not gotten your teaching liscense in Cobb, you can just go across the River into Atlanta and get a job in Atlanta for being Black. These teacher’s didn’t want to origninally teach in Atlanta, because of the discipline issues in some of the schools they end up in . But when they can’t cut it in Cobb, they will out of desperation go apply to Atlanta. Another Black male teacher I know that couldn’t make it in Cobb and was riffed went down to Bibb County.
Another Comment
October 6th, 2012
3:19 pm
I meant she all of a sudden got a job in City of Atlanta, after she got moved to being a PE teacher.
Southside Parent
October 6th, 2012
3:21 pm
@Big Mama & USMC:
APS is a neighborhood based school system except for the magnets that formerly existed at the high schools. The move to cohesive clusters (which NAHS has had for years but no one else has had) is to create more opportunities to get neighborhood input and local control. They are also giving principals more support and more discretion to operate independently of downtown but with accountability.
@USMC: No individual parent could have transformed the wretched mess that Parks Middle and Douglas High had become. We are the adults in our city together. You are also capable of remedying the gross neglect of schools in many parts of our city. It is likely you were better positioned to hold our school board accountable than most of the parents zoned to those failed schools.
Realist
October 6th, 2012
3:23 pm
The school did not make AYP for 5 years. Based on the rules the entire administration should have been reconstituted, ie booted out, a couple of years ago.
It should be agreed that Mygrant was well loved by the district’s parents. But, why not look at the objective educational progress of the school .Zero. Great educators turn around schools no matter what the racial makeup. Why are we not asking, why is NAHS a failing school?
Many IB schools have open access, and use all measures to ensure success of all the students that enroll. Don’t make e\xcuses. NAHS needs every possible student in the program to just maintain the program. The IB program is a joke!! Compare the number of courses to any other IB program and you will see.
nahs student
October 6th, 2012
3:23 pm
I know they mean well, but the new team won’t care as much as the old team who have.been with us since freshmen year. I find it kind disrespectful on how they just did this with out the concent of the.community, the people who are going to benifit from it the most. Wy to get yourself in some heat aps congrats
Another Comment
October 6th, 2012
3:24 pm
Instead of the Stupid Charter Amendment we should have an Amendment to add the number of School Districts. School Districts should be no bigger than one or two high schools large and their feeder schools. That is what works, no bloated district offices, no bloated overhead. Give us neigborhood schools. Where people must live in their home school neighborhoods. If you pay $10K + for taxes you go to that school. If you live in Section 8 housing you and your culture and values that keep you in section 8 go to that school district. It is that easy. I am a Liberal who will vote for Obama and Stoner.
A Comment of Merit. Get the inside Picture of NAHS teachers
October 6th, 2012
3:29 pm
Whoa, they legitimately took out the only reasonable and worthy people to have even been in the school besides a **few** of the teachers(like Mr.Williams, Ms.Ray, a couple others, and the IB teachers). Honestly they should have just also taken Mr. Baillard away and then they could unofficially have an environment for zero success rate and control over student action. I guess if there is some lawful/financial benefit to shutting down the school for being terrible then they will achieve it going down this route. Just on a side note I had MyGrant as a principle for 7 years, and I’d have to question the qualifications of Davis, because this is ridiculous – I won’t include any nostalgic stories or anything (not to say I don’t have more than a few), but like it’s already been said in the comments, APS is only looking to grab as much money as they can. If you have ever seen an APS substitute or half of the staff in the whole school that could score higher than a brick on an IQ test, then you must be high on LSD. The literal stupidity of most of the staff and especially the substitutes is so extraordinary that it could only be paralleled with the low salary that they accepted to get hired (or possibly it’s the same salary as other teachers, but the school would get more funding for worse grades?). I wouldn’t take the time to look into because if you dug it would seem that without a doubt the entire school system would come crashing down, and what that would do for your kids education could probably only end up as more of hindrance than a benefit. Also if I knew about all the corruption and terrible teachers I would probably sell everything from my house and my toothbrush to get my kid in private school so they don’t end up permanently disabled intellectually because stupid is contagious. Good luck to the rest of you parents, I’m raising my kids when I have them in Canada. -graduated NAHS 2011, had 2 siblings that also when through, if your kid isn’t already pretty smart, NAHS will be a failure for improvement, send them somewhere else.
@Sandy Springs Parent
October 6th, 2012
3:35 pm
@Southside I can label someone a bad parent because I had a bad parent. A bad mother, a high school dropout, that whined and complained about where she lived, everything my father did not provider her. But she did not work. Laid in bed most of the time and bad mouthed him working two jobs, but he wasn’t the love of his life. My dad was a good guy to put up with her for 53 years. She wouldn’t even try for her GED when her high school children and her friend her age who was doing asked her to. I have a Master’s degree.
When a mother whore’s out her children to men to support her, she is a bad mother. That is what this mother was doing. Had the father of the baby living in the house supporting the family. I have gotten an 18 year old back in school. Without me she would not be eligible for the 2 year visa. Now she is because of me she is back in school. Lots of kids do not have good parents and need an adult mentor.
Peggy Ledbetter
October 6th, 2012
3:36 pm
First to @another comment: A=B and C=D does not mean A=C or B=D. And your comment on Marta, residency and NAHS students shows you are certainly not knowledgeable about public schools or NAHS.
Second: I was a school counselor at Sutton Middle School for 18 years. For 14 of those years, I was privileged to work under 2 outstanding principals, David York and Mark MyGrant. David York reversed a trend by getting more neighborhood students to attend their public middle school versus private schools, and he helped make Sutton one of the best middle schools in the metropolitan area. After David York retired and after a few interim principals, Mark MyGrant came in and continued on with great success in encouraging neighborhood students to attend Sutton Middle School. Promoting the neighborhood schools, hiring exceptional teachers, and encouraging strong parent support, while still maintaining “Diversity is our Strength” at Sutton, were admirable goals that these two principals achieved.
I also was privileged to work with Reginald Colbert and Melissa Gautreaux, who were excellent teachers and co-workers.
lahopital
October 6th, 2012
3:38 pm
@Another Comment – you are not a liberal and I think having hundreds of school districts, each with its own overhead of IT, HR and facilities staffs would be far more bloated than having one district. If everybody could get past the black/white issues, we might be able to figure out how to best educate the children in the system. This is not to say there isn’t racism (or “classism”), only to say that those who are racist and those who are looking for racism in every perceived slight, aren’t adding squat to educating children.
USMC
October 6th, 2012
3:40 pm
“APS is a neighborhood based school system except for the magnets that formerly existed at the high schools.”–Southside
Southside, thank you for your explanation. (sincerely)
I am an Atlanta Native and actually graduated from the school that is now North Atlanta HS so I would say I am pretty familiar with the situation.
I just think the city needs t QUIT busing kids across town to attend school. It has been a failure from the very start and only racial hatred has kept busing alive.
The Atlanta Public Schools dismal record of failure should be enough for any administrator with common sense to see that we don’t need MAGNET SCHOOL programs.
We as a society should get back to neighborhood schools where kids are being taught Reading wRiting, and aRithmatic. PERIOD.
Atlanta Public Schools are a failure and always have been ever since integration.
STOP SCHOOL BUSING!
Big Mama
October 6th, 2012
3:41 pm
@Southside Parent-
Let me be more emphatic in my belief that “downtown” IS the problem for all schools in APS! Only with great reluctance have I reached the opinion that breaking up APS is best for all. I agree that parents on the northside have a stronger voice for demanding accountability from the school board. But each time we speak out, we are met with accusations of rascism from the very people who are most likely to benefit from our support. At some point we have to consider the best interests of our own children. Surely there are parents in other parts of the system who deeply care about their children’s education. The time has come for them to take up the challenge of creating quality schools for their neighborhoods.
Hey Teacher
October 6th, 2012
3:42 pm
I’ve only seen one administrator removed in such a dramatic fashion in my career (although I’ve witnessed plenty of folks who have “disappeared” over the weekend for various reasons) and he was ultimately charged with child pornography. APS is either being really unprofessional (did they not think this action would make the blogs?) or something more serious than racist E mails will be coming to light. Something isn’t adding up here.
USMC
October 6th, 2012
3:45 pm
If you want your child to attend a certain High School, move into the district.
It does not matter of you are black or white.
If you don’t live in the neighborhood, you should not be able to send your kids to the NEIGHBORHOOD school.
It’s that simple.
Roseeee
October 6th, 2012
3:45 pm
Ok this is stupid they shouldn’t of fired…. All the students or at least most of them have grown a connection with the teachers. Y would they fire teachers like that? Oh and the aps is gonna loose alot of students and families!!!
RexDogma
October 6th, 2012
3:55 pm
This is just sad, but that is the way GA law works. You can fire anyone for any reason whenever and escort them off. That’s what you get for being a right to work state. Beware anyone else. What a rude way to do things but totally not suprising!!!!
Pride and Joy
October 6th, 2012
3:56 pm
INCREDIBLE! If the administration wasn’t good enough or corrupt, as their dismissal shows, then WHY were they reassigned to other parts of teh school system?If they aren’t good enough for North Atlanta, then they wouldn’t be good enough anywhere else either.
A lack of explanation by Errol Davis is unforgivable.
You can’t come in and fire everybody without an explanation.
A “new day” just doesn’t cut it.
Dana F. Blankenhorn
October 6th, 2012
3:57 pm
North Atlanta was the only good high school the city had, in terms of academic achievement. My son got his IB degree there in 2009 and was very well prepared for college work, thanks in large part to Mr. Denine. (No thanks to MyGrant, but at least now I know why.)
I had been inclined to vote against the Charter School Amendment this November, because I wanted to believe in public schools, and don’t like the potential mischief “charter school” companies might have to make mischief and pursue political agendas.
But I’ve changed my mind. It’s all mischief. Drew Charter is great, and even if some other charter schools aren’t Errol Davis has proven conclusively, through this action, that Atlanta Public Schools don’t care about excellence at all.
So what choice do I have? None. Any kid who can’t get into a good charter school from now on is screwed. It’s a shame, especially for kids whose parents don’t care, and especially for African-American kids, who will now be subject to the choices of whims of charter school leaders.
But what choice do they have, either? Accept the enforced mediocrity of APS? I don’t think so.
Had enuf
October 6th, 2012
4:05 pm
Has anyone noticed that they replaced a white principal with a white principal? How can NAHS ever become anything but a Buckhead Betty private-within-a-public school with a white principal? Never mind, they are positioning it to become a charter school in the near future anyway.
Ed Johnson
October 6th, 2012
4:09 pm
So, what’s the lesson?
How about to start understanding the difference between leadership and management.
Since at least 1999, APS has been too much management and too little leadership.
With too much management situations like this one come as no surprise.
Maureen Downey
October 6th, 2012
4:16 pm
@Leslie, That is the policy of most blogs, but we are moving to registration, which should limit the vitriol as authentic emails must be used.
Maureen
NAHS student
October 6th, 2012
4:17 pm
http://www.change.org/petitions/atlanta-public-schools-please-return-nahs-administrative-team-to-their-positions-at-nahs Here is the link to the petition to bring back our admins and stand up for the work they’ve done for us students, faculty, and parents for years. Please please sign and pass it around! We have many more signatures to go.
Maureen Downey
October 6th, 2012
4:22 pm
@To Bethune Parent, I am going to follow up on your note about your principal. Have also sent to the APS news reporter.
Maureen
Gov. Nathan Deal and Erroll B. Davis are the PROBLEM
October 6th, 2012
4:30 pm
@JAR
October 6th, 2012
12:53 pm
“Error” Davis has no ideas and no vision. He’s an old fashioned hatchet man. Al l he does is cuts and chops indiscriminately. He will leave APS in a huge financial hole. Much of the red will come from the numerous lawsuits some of which have already been filed against APS.
Parents should contact your APS school board representatives and ask them to VOTE NO for retaining Davis…
**************************************************
The APS school board are a bunch of idiots.
They act like Davis is THEIR BOSS.
They are HIS BOSS.
They need to start acting like it.
FIRE DAVIS NOW!
Steve
October 6th, 2012
4:30 pm
I am jumping in to correct this – The term “right to work” has NOTHING to do with an employer’s right to terminate an employee. Look it up. Second, if you don’t believe the employer should have this right (absent a contract), let us know when, as an employee, you want to give up your right to quit a job any time. Third, if you don’t like it, invest your money to start a business so you are not working for someone else.
Maureen Downey
October 6th, 2012
4:39 pm
@To those asking why this was only done at NAHS and not other schools getting new principals:
That is a good point. This purge of the second tier of administrators — and the APS spokesman made clear today that there are no allegations against them or plans to fire them — is strange. And the rationale — so that the new principal can pick his own team — doesn’t make sense. He can pick his own team regardless of whether the jobs were held by the current employees or by the central office temps.
But now the students at NAHS have eight central office staffers running their programs for an unknown period of time — people who have zero reason to learn the job because they are only placeholders.
And, in the meantime, eight central office jobs are empty.
I have to admit some confusion about how this drives instructional improvement, as Steve Alford told me earlier.
Can anyone see a plus to this plan? There may be one, but I can’t see it. I just see kids dealing with program directors who don’t know the programs.
Maureen
another APS teacher
October 6th, 2012
4:41 pm
By now everyone should know that APS is run like a 3rd world dictatorship. I don’t know what’s going on; it could be any number of things. I’d hesitate to speculate. Knowing APS, I’d hazard a guess that this is not even the tip of the iceberg.
I also know a little about North Atlanta. My son graduated from NAHS’s IB program this past May. I know he got a wonderful education while he was there. He traveled Ecuador his junior year. His teachers were excellent. Not every one through all four years, but the vast majority. He was pushed, but there was empathy too when he screwed up. I think the fact that more IB students don’t pass the IB tests (or score high enough to earn an IB diploma) is more about the student and their households than it does about the curriculum. Parents have to understand what IB actually is and what it takes. It really requires tons of parental support, and it may be that parents really don’t know or aren’t willing to be there for the child while they are earning this extremely difficult degree. I’ll admit irritation, anger, and extreme disappointment that my son’s Merit Scholarship was announced at neither the Visions Baccalaureate program nor at graduation, but that doesn’t make the entire administration bad. Action this drastic has something else behind it.
And as for Harper-Archer- I know about there too. They need every bit of faculty and staff they can get get. Bless them.
Annie
October 6th, 2012
4:42 pm
I have no idea what is going on at this school nor is it really my business . However, unless these people have committed criminal acts, this is a poor example of professionalism and a total lack of regard for the children in the school.
Is it not possible for Atlanta Public Schools to get a highly qualified and effective superintendent who can clean up the mess without this kind of acton? Is it so corrupt that no one can turn this around?APS should be a good school system. They have the money. This kind of c— is really bad for the business community.
JAR
October 6th, 2012
4:49 pm
To all of you racists and to those of you who are racist but don’t know it. The war over the doctrine of Seperate but Equal was fought a long time ago. Seperate but Equal was defeated. The US Supreme Court ruled that this doctrine was inherently unequal. So, APS nor any other school system in this country will ever go back. Minority to Majority, Magnet programs, busing, etc. were developed as remedies to the segregated school systems of the past. Not so long ago, Dekalb County still under a federal desegregation order at the time, asked the Justice Department to withdraw the order citing that Dekalb schools were segregated because of the county’s housing patterns. i.e. Whites lived in the north and blacks lived in the south. The courts ruled that the Dekalb County School System was directly responsible for the housing patterns. Did I hear a news story the other day that said APS was still one of the most segregated school systems in the country? Seems to me that with the recent redistricting APS is looking a lot like Dekalb County, Not so long ago.
Ivan
October 6th, 2012
4:54 pm
To Annie,
No, it’s not possible for APS to get a qualified Super because they have an incompetent Board. The Board recently let the Super circumvent the redistricting process in the Grady cluster thereby bypassing the Board and the neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the Board just sits on their hands and lets King Errol do whatever he wants. You have no choice but to take it because Davis and the Board don’t care about the neighborhoods. This is just one more example of APS being completely tone deaf when they need to be on their best behavior based on what happened under Beverly Hall. How long until SACS is looking into the Super-Board relationship again?
Wilbur
October 6th, 2012
4:56 pm
The posts on this blog from the NAHS folks sure make a private school option attractive. I suppose that the job of leading a diverse public school in the APS is just impossible.
Steve
October 6th, 2012
4:58 pm
JAR – I think you both asked and answered, on your own behalf, your first question — all in the first sentence! Like many things, “separate but equal” has morphed. The original meaning was that government could not CREATE the separation. Now, it has come to mean, where citizens make their own choice about where to live, government steps in to “by gosh make sure we mix back what the people have chose to separate, even if it means two hours of sitting on a bus.”
@ NAHS Mother
October 6th, 2012
4:59 pm
The administration may change, but the “buckhead betties” are not going away.
USMC
October 6th, 2012
5:01 pm
BUSING IS FOR BUFFOONS!
It is simply ridiculous and creates Global Warming with a Large Carbon Footprint.
Go GREEN, Folks and save the Earth!
Reality Check
October 6th, 2012
5:03 pm
I do not have a dog in this fight, but I do have to share this world with you. Go back and read all of the statements posted here. Not only are the comments racist, but underlying tones of superiority because you happen to be caucasian with money. I’m sure many of you find the term “Buckhead Betty’s” offensive and it is because it is stereotypical. But I find when most of you refer to African Americans, they are free-lunch getting gangbangers whose parents are on drugs and don’t care about them. How about a little, love compassion and understanding. It makes our world a little nicer.
USMC
October 6th, 2012
5:03 pm
“The administration may change, but the “buckhead betties” are not going away”
Yeah no kidding. you are sending your child ACROSS town to THEIR neighborhood.
Of course they aren’t going anywhere.
Big Mama
October 6th, 2012
5:05 pm
@JAR-
With all due respect, it might come as big shock to you, but not everyone who lives in Buckhead is white (or rich, for that matter). The elementary school my children attend reflects the diversity of our zone and the school community is quite cohesive. It is not rascist to want my children to attend our neighborhood school or to demand a quality education for all the students that attend that school.
The schools in south Atlanta lack diversity. How is that the fault of families in north Atlanta?
USMC
October 6th, 2012
5:08 pm
Reality Check needs a Reality Check.
The Atlanta Public Schools are one of the MOST Racist organizations in the United States…
No one cares if you are black or white, but if you don’t live in a given neighborhood, you should NOT be able to send your children to the NEIGHBORHOOD school.
You should NOT get special treatment just because you are black. Move into the neighborhood and Get over yourself.
Ron F.
October 6th, 2012
5:09 pm
After reading all the comments on this, it’s clear that noone has any real understanding of this, not even MyGrath himself. Clearly there were unanswered questions and issues that went way beyond the school and its leadership, and someone (either Davis or someone trusted beneath him) decided the leadership needed to be removed immediately. That was done either to stop something that was about to become an issue or as retribution for something. Either way, we’ll never know the real details I’m sure. Considering the administrative mess left behind by Hall, I’m not sure I’d trust anything coming out of the central office in APS. Unfortunately, that is a system that is making us all look bad.
APS Student for my entire life.
October 6th, 2012
5:12 pm
I am a STUDENT at North Atlanta High School, and speaking PERSONALLY from actually going there, the administrators are all wonderful and conversations with fellow peers have revealed nothing but pure outrage at this occurrence. Also: it is sad that people are referring to students as “white girl” and other terms based solely on color. One of the best things at NAHS is the diversity and the student body gets along well with one another. In response to the comment:
“The white buckhed girls who were caught last year SELLING marijuana brownies were allowed back into the school after a short suspension where black kids with minor infractions are quickly expelled.”
1. Yes these girls were white, but the notion that they live in Buckhead is a false assumption.
2. Neither returned back to NAHS that year
“Furthermore, none of the white buckhead kids who bought the marijuana brownies faced any punishment from the school itself and none of them were referred to the police.”
1.This statement in entirety is completely and totally false.
Finally, I don’t even understand how that event has anything to do with this at all. If we really want to see a change, then we need to stop making false accusations and instead focus at the matter on hand.
concerned
October 6th, 2012
5:13 pm
To Another APS Teacher. I know your child, an Ivy Leaguer now, and kudos to you and your son for his accomplishments. Thank you also for bringing up the point that the IB Diploma is a very hard diploma to get, even for the most accomplished and driven student and the IB diploma program is open to every one of the students at North Atlanta High School. Thank you for your words of support for NAHS ,your son’s smiling face is missed and I hope he is doing well.
Disappointed
October 6th, 2012
5:15 pm
I am African American and I am grossly offended by the ignorant comments that I have read on this blog. I agree that parents should focus their time and energy to make the schools in their communities what they want them to be. However, we do have to be honest about the degree of institutional racism that does play apart in our educational systems. I am sure that the problems that exist at North Atlanta are far more complicated than race, and I’m also sure that changing the admin team won’t solve those problems. Instead of taking this time to post racists rhetoric, we should be praying for the young people who have to maneuver through the mess that the adults have made of their school year. GOD BLESS THESE CHILDREN.
Concerned NAHS mom
October 6th, 2012
5:15 pm
Think they left anybody in place to administer the PSAT to the Junior class when we get back from Fall break? What a mess!
bootney farnsworth
October 6th, 2012
5:17 pm
Erroll Davis, the gift that keeps on giving.
not content to allow Tricoli to destroy GPC, he (Davis) has turned his special talent for mismanagement on APS
the legislature should love him though, he creates senarios which cause educators to lose
their jobs
bootney farnsworth
October 6th, 2012
5:23 pm
its time for the feds to investigate APS, USG, and Erroll Davis.
something is not at all right
APS official response on North Atlanta High leadership purge | Get Schooled
October 6th, 2012
5:23 pm
[...] Stephen J. Alford, executive director of communications, Atlanta Public Schools, on the purge yesterday of the leadership at North Atlanta High School: Thank you for sharing your concerns and views about the recent leadership transition at North [...]
Not a Buckhead Betty
October 6th, 2012
5:25 pm
Bussing was finished with last year’s graduating class. There are not currently any students being “bussed” to NAHS, though there are some who have applied to attend the school as an out of district student. There may be students who attend across district lines without express permission but official “bussing” no longer exists at this school – at least to my understanding.
Instead of turning on each other with stereotypical attacks, let’s work together to get through this transition for the benefit of our children. I don’t see how most of the dialogue on this blog helps anyone.
Thanks Maureen for keeping us informed. Thanks to parents (whether black, white,or brown, poor, wealthy, or somewhere in between) who support NAHS with whatever resources you can – whether time, energy, money, food, or all of the above. Thanks to faculty and staff who take their jobs seriously and take my child’s future seriously. Thanks to Melissa Gautreaux who helped us through the bus problems at the beginning of the school year. Thanks to Mr. Denine who tried to help us with scheduling problems this fall, even if we didn’t end up needing help.
I’m ready to “get on the bus” and work to get past this no matter what the circumstances because my child’s education is my priority. Hope to see you there.
NAHS Former Parent
October 6th, 2012
5:29 pm
The vitriol by the myrmidons is quite humorous. Mr. Mygrant led a capable staff. It is not a perfect world and, as I have repeatedly told my kids, life is not fair. The issue is, and always has been, that administrators tend to look only out for themselves. Their regard is not for the constituents but for their personal gain. I mean by that retirement benefits, job perks as well as other non cash benefits that are afforded to them. The people who are middle management, as well as senior management, cannot teach. They never have and never will. APS is only applying the “Peter Principal” at its finest. They will only look out for their best interest not the students.
I had a child who graduated from NAHS. The only concern was that the college bound were given only cursory support. Thankfully, having both parents attending prep schools remedied this situation.
During my childs time at both NAHS and SMS I found Mr. Mygrant approachable understanding and a person who cares about his students. He was truly one of the few educators that had a forward vision. It’s unfortunate that “Error” Davis does not embrace the people who care. I hazard to guess this is only a job, and not a way of life.
The NAHS community has lost a great asset.
Good luck and good travels Mr. Mygrant