Live blogging from North Atlanta High meeting with Davis: Did he make his case?

8:03 p.m. Still five people on line to ask questions in a session that began 6:20 p.m.

Parent. (Final question at 8:09 p.m.) Have you told the truth and the whole truth?

Davis: I try to tell the truth.  When it gets to personnel matters, I am at a disadvantage as I can’t share that with you.

Student: Why now?

Davis: Already answered that. (Which he had, about a dozen times. Just not sure folks bought his answer.)

Student: Kids aren’t graduating. It is not the fault of the administrators. Kids aren’t doing the work.

Parent: Davis was correct in his opening statement. “We are not getting satisfaction from the meeting but also not getting clarity.” Why did this have to be so rushed, so cloak and dagger with no discussion with administrators involved?

Davis: I had a sense of urgency. I wanted to change leadership before new principal got here.

Student: Why remove administrators now as many have only been in jobs for one or two years so the school’s historic problems cannot be blamed on them?

Davis: “I looked back five years and did not see the performance this school should have”. Administrators individually are fine. As a team, they weren’t succeeding. “It’s not a sin to be in the middle of the pack. But I don’t want that to be the standard for North Atlanta High School. With the kind of commitment, with the resources that are available in this community, this school should be at the head of the pack.”

Davis says APS has done value-added computations on how many months of gains students register in each high school. At North Atlanta, students gain 10 months in nine months of school. But at Carver, students gain 17 months in that time, “almost twice,” said Davis.

Parent: Can you bring back those people so we can say thank you and goodbye? (That question earned a standing ovation.)

Davis: Yes, he can make that opportunity possible.

Student: I have a project here but now it been put on hold because shift in administrators. Could you not have kept the prior team?

Davis: Essentially, he said “no.” But he applauded students and their interest and their questions.

Parent: If other schools are failing, do you plan on similar actions there.

Davis: “Each school is different. I do not have similar plans for all those high schools.”

Parent: You have four very important positions to fill. What makes you think someone who can fit that bill come to place where they can subject to bloodless Coup d’état at any time?  (Applause)

Davis: “They will come here to work under exciting new leaders. I don’t have any doubts that we will be able to attract all the administrators.”

Parent: Do you think it is not too late to start over and do it right?

Davis: I feel very strongly about performance. That performance will, in fact, be changed and motivated by a group of new leaders. I think we have chosen an excellent one and believe he will choose an excellent team. In retrospect, we could have done a lot better on the process.

Bedlam at 6:58. Deposed principal Mark MyGrant has just entered packed gym. He gets a standing ovation.

Davis is clearly unhappy with MyGrant’s dramatic entrance and the warm welcome from a raucous crowd.

“We have had our Kabuki theater moment. Let her ask her question,” he says, gesturing to the speaker at microphone. There are 25 people behind her in line to ask questions. MyGrant leaves the gym.

“This should be our premier school in this city,” he said, in response to her question on why he felt that North Atlanta High was in need of urgent change in its leadership and why he yanked the four leaders of the Small Learning Communities.

Parent: “Please consider that these are communities, these schools.” Why were the beloved administrators treated with such disrespect? “If you have a decision like this coming, approach the community. Say, ‘Here is a problem. Let’s solve it together.’ Parent says Davis also tone deaf to community when he pulled teachers from Garden Hills in leveling last year. Parent came before him about that last year as well.

Davis: “I listened to you last year about leveling.” Changed leveling process. Still have it, but it is now two-step process: Talk about qualitative issues in that school before we move teachers. “Every decision you learn from.”

Parent: We can handle change. But change is very different than ambushing a community of parent and students. Will you reconsider if open records requests reveal why this was done?

Davis: Decision made on performance data and data will not change.

Student: Was racism a factor at all in these decisions?

Davis: “I have no knowledge of any charges or allegations of racism at this school…My decisions were made on performance, where we are and where we should be.”

Student: How does transferring the four administrators to other schools solve the problem if the administrators are to blame for North Atlanta’s poor performance?

Davis: Odd response to this: Something about the difference in individual sport performance vs. team sports.

Student: Similar question.

Davis:. Similar answer: He wanted the new principal to pick his entire new team so Dr. Taylor would not face any obstacles in turning school around.

Parent: Complained that Davis talking too slow to delay questions. Said he lacked any credibility. She left to applause from students.

Student: Why weren’t parents notified of changes?

Davis: “That is not going to a happen. There will never be a time, either with lead time or without lead time, when I seek permission from parents.”

Student: How will the new administration be able to succeed with hostility they will face from students. “Other than the counseling you mentioned.” (In earlier question on how students, coming back tomorrow from a break, will cope, Davis said counselors will be on hand.)

Student: But was school improving under the ousted administrators? What were the trends?

Davis: I don’t have that data. (Crowd unhappy with that response.) I believe progress has been made over time, but has enough progress been made?  Where are we now? What have we done over the last five years?

Parent: Why not at the beginning of the school year or over the summer? Why the emergency nature of the removals?

Davis: “Urgency is related to the appearance of the new principal. Again, the circumstances did exist, but we did not have new leadership coming.”

A 2005 graduate of NAHS: You knew this summer that school was in the needs improvement category this summer. “My concern is decision to take these administrators out almost halfway during the semester was done prematurely.” And replacements are only temporary. It is not the normal process to yank staff, put in replacements for a short time and then hire other people.

Davis: People are going to describe what the normal process is. I don’t want to take a year for that normal process. That is why I took actions I did.  He acknowledged that the actions were not usual, but were warranted because of the special circumstances. “It is not normal, but I hope it is brief.”

Parent: Son dreading school tomorrow, coming back from break, with administrators gone.

Davis: We will have counselors available at school Wednesday.

Parent: People loyal to us, retired from us. How can you justify this?

Davis: They were transferred under standard protocol. Ran Fortune 1000 company.  That is how we do it.

Parent: These were decent people.

Davis: “There is no debate about the decency of these people. If I didn’t think they were quality people, they would have not been reassigned. ”

Parent: Why take away web site access to PTSA?

Davis: Web site access was changed across system. (Guffaws)

6:23: Erroll Davis begins with his opening statements: “We can potentially have an unsatisfactory discussion for a number of reasons.” He says he can’t discuss specific personnel issues. “I am not going to do that.”

He will not say why principal Mark MyGrant was summarily dismissed Friday. He thanked the administrators transferred to new assignments.

“We did use our standard protocol for sensitive announcements but no one was escorted out of this building,” he said. (I assume the standard protocol refers to the presence of school officers as well as the demand that the four turn over their APS computers. I asked Davis after the event about why APS took the computers from the four staffers who were reassigned. He said it was standard industry protocol in sensitive job changes to confiscate the computers to protect data as employees can get upset and do damage or compromise data. He said the computers had been returned to the four.)

“My view is this school needs to be a lot more than it is presently. It has fantastic potential, fabulous support.”

“We are moving into a $100 million facility next year. I want our performance as a system and as a school to be on that level.”

He is now outlining the under performance of North Atlanta. “Performance data for this schools says it has to improve and improve quickly.”

“I am not here to bash this school. This school has great potential.”

“From 2007 to 2011, this school did not make AYP. Now, it is an NI-4 school, which means under some level of state monitoring and reporting.”

Now, school has to meet higher standards. “If I had a team that did not make the lower standards, why should I have confidence that it will be able to make the higher standards?”

“Graduation rate is higher than system average. It is at 62 percent, seventh from the bottom at APS. This is not what I want for APS. This is not where we need to be. It means we are failing four out of every 10 of our children.”

“I don’t doubt that most parents in this room have children who are going to graduate. Through the eyes of your children where you get lots of the school experiences, you are hearing that they are having a great experience. ”

“But four out every 10 kids who walk through this door are not graduating.”

“This high school should be No. 1 under every factor. I have other concerns. I look at performance and what we were achieving and what we are achieving here. I have come to conclude with dynamic new principal coming, I want him to have every opportunity to succeed. ”

He says that he felt new principal could not succeed with the old administration in place. “So, I removed them and put them in different assignments.” He stressed that they did not lose status, pay or stature.

5:16: Parents arriving in red T-shirts proclaiming “APS Parent Satisfaction. O%”
Place is filling up fast.

5:21: About 100 North Atlanta High School students outside with signs and chants “We want answers” and “Bring them back.”
Lots of TV reporters. Lots of mulling parents. Erroll Davis arrives.

5:30: Talked to some students outside. They want to know what I think about why this happened. I tell them I don’t know, but I can’t understand why this was handled so badly by APS. They want to know about the comparison between what happened at NAHS and what didn’t happen at Jackson High. New principal appointed there as well, but no wholesale banishment of the administrative staff to jobs elsewhere. Why?

5:52: Talked to parents from Grady and Jackson. They are here to see why policies differ high school to high school.

5:53: TV crews are being confined to small  area next to me roped off with red cords. (I am sitting in third row. It pays to come at 3:50 p.m. for a 6 p.m. meeting. Some unhappiness among TV cameramen being crammed in small area. (Hey, Steve Alford, they need more space.)

5:58. All 400 seats are taken. Parents are now filling bleachers in the gym. Lots of security on hand. Stopping folks from walking near the podium.

5:59. School board chair Reuben R. McDaniel is here. North Atlanta rep Nancy Meister is also here. So is Cecily Harsch-Kinnane. Meister was about to sit in the reserved row, but was told it was for the transition team being brought to NAHS from the Central office. (The entire board may be here, but can’t walk around too easily to check.) The students with signs are now filling the other half of the gym. Probably nearly 800 people here or more. (

By the way, this diverse NAHS student body looks like an ad for Benetton. Young, attractive, engaged and united. Nice to see.

Among the signs: “It’s a say day at NAHS” and “New Day, No Way,” referring to Davis’ description of the removal of the old staff as a “new day.”

6:07: Where is Erroll Davis? He is in the building but not yet on the stage. This place has the feel of a Hawks game. Lots of excitement, noise and energy. And it’s a gym.

6:13: Still no Erroll Davis. I know he is here. Either he is prepping or waiting for the crowd to quiet down.

I am at the North Atlanta High School gym for the 6 p.m. meeting with APS school chief Erroll B. Davis.  (I am an hour early but I was worried about traffic and getting a seat.) Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts just arrived. School board member Emmett Johnson is now here.

6:18: Last sound check. One man in the crowd just yelled, “It’s 6:20 already.” It is actually 6:18.

6:19. Erroll Davis is about to speak. A hush is falling over the crowd, even the students. The board members are being introduced. Tepid response to board Chair McDaniel – who is cast as a factor in what happened at the school in some of the scenarios making the rounds — but warm and boisterous response to Meister’s name. Nice response as well for Harsch-Kinnane, Johnson and Brenda J. Muhammad. Crowd has filled

6:23: Davis: “We can potentially have an unsatisfactory discussion for a number of reasons. He says he can’t discuss specific personnel issues and “I am not going to do that.”

He will not say why principal Mark MyGrant was summarily dismissed Friday. He thanked the administrators transferred to new assignments.

“We did use our standard protocol for sensitive announcements..but no one was escorted out of this building,” he said. I assume the standard protocol refers to the presence of school officers.

My view is this school needs to be a lot more than it is presetly, It as fantastic potential, fablous support. We are moving into a $100 million facility next year, I want our performance as a system and a school to be on that level,

He is now outlining the under performance of North Atlanta. Performance data for this schools says it has to improve and improve quickly.

I am not here to bash this school. This school has great potential

From 2007 to 2011, this school did not make AYP. Now, it is an NI-4 school, which means under some level of state monitoring and reporting.

Now, school has to meet higher standards. If I had a team that did not meet lower standards, why should I have confidence that it will meet the higher standards?

Graduation rate is higher than system average. It is at 62 percent, seventh from the bottom at APS. This is not what I want for APS. This is not where we need to be. It means we are failing four out of every 10 of our children.

I don’t doubt that most parents in this room have children who are going to graduate. Through the eyes of your children where you get lots of the school experiences, you are hearing that they are having a great experience.

But four out every 10 kids who walk through this door are not graduating.

This high school should be No. 1 under every factor. I have other concerns. I look at performance and what we were achieving and what we are achieving here. I have come to conclude with dynamic new principal coming, I want him to have every opportunity to succeed.

He says that he felt new principal could not succeed with the old administration in place. “So, I removed them and put them in different assignments.” He stressed that they did not lose status, pay or stature.

Several student journalists here — which I love to see — and TV camera crews setting up. There are about 30 parents and staff. More talking outside. I did a count and there are 400 seats set up for parents. When a TV camera man pulled one away to put down his bags, he was told that all seats must remain.

I will blog from the event as long as my signal holds, but, in the meantime, here is a statement released this afternoon by the North Atlanta High PTSA:

In advance of the meeting tonight with APS Superintendent Davis and in response to hundreds of questions received from parents, the Executive Board of the North Atlanta PTSA has issued the following statement:

The PTSA had no knowledge of the APS personnel changes in advance of Friday’s dismissals.

We are appalled and disappointed with the unprofessional and disrespectful manner in which our administrators were treated. We expect APS officials to model respectful treatment of employees, students and parents, and we do not believe this standard was upheld.

Although we realize that change is inevitable with any transition, we believe the removal of this administrative team at this time is not in the best interest of our students and will adversely impact the students in the coming weeks and months.

The manner in which these actions occurred has cast a negative light on our school and district.

We believe the students, parents, faculty and our new principal, Dr. Taylor, deserve the institutional knowledge and stability provided by our former administrative team during this time of transition. We respectfully request the immediate reinstatement of our administrative staff.

We welcome our new principal Dr. Taylor and look forward to meeting him in the coming weeks and are committed to working with him to continue building excellence at North Atlanta High School.

This statement has been prepared in the spirit of the National PTSA Standards, which are included below.

–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog