Former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond will be DeKalb interim chief. “Guts, vision and passion,” says Roy Barnes.
DeKalb Schools just issued a statement announcing that former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond will be appointed interim superintendent
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, at the AJC today for a meeting with reporters, praised Thurmond, with whom he worked for years in state government.
“Michael Thurmond is one of the most inspirational speakers I’ve ever heard. If DeKalb can be brought over with guts, vision and passion, he can do it. For an interim to kind of stir things up, Michael would be an excellent choice,” said Barnes. (More later on Barnes’ view of where Georgia is on education issues.)
Michael Thurmond (AJC photo)
Here is the official DeKalb statement:
“We are delighted Mr. Thurmond has agreed to serve as our interim superintendent,” said Board Chairman Eugene Walker. “Our school district is facing significant challenges, and we need a leader with a strong record of making fundamental changes in large, complex organizations. Throughout our state, you’ll find almost universal agreement that Michael Thurmond has consistently demonstrated those abilities.”
“The board is committed to working with Mr. Thurmond,” said Jim McMahan, vice-chair of the DeKalb board. “Under his leadership, we will work to ensure that every child in DeKalb has equal access to a quality education.”
“I welcome the opportunity to serve the 99,000 students of the DeKalb County Schools,” said Mr. Thurmond. “By all of us coming together across our county – parents, employees, citizens and businesses North and South – there’s no limit to what we will accomplish for our schoolchildren.”
Thurmond is credited with transforming two unwieldy state agencies, first as director of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and then as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor. At DFCS, Thurmond instituted a shift away from a culture of dependency for welfare recipients to a new focus on employment, job-training and personal responsibility. The Department of Labor underwent a similar change under his leadership, from a department that administered jobless benefits into a statewide resource for Georgians seeking career opportunities and training at newly created Career Centers throughout the state.
“We think that fundamental change is what our parents and stakeholders are demanding,” Dr. Walker said. “We are confident that Michael Thurmond is the leader with the track record and the ability to improve education for all of our schoolchildren.”
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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229 comments Add your comment
bootney farnsworth
February 8th, 2013
6:01 pm
just for giggles:
anyone here think slick Nate will “Deal” with this now?
bu2
February 8th, 2013
6:03 pm
@bootney
We could do it like stadiums. Sell naming rights to the schools. Dunwoody Elementary could become “Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich is Delicious Elementary.” Think their HQ is in the Dunwoody Elementary zone.
Married with (School) Children
February 8th, 2013
6:04 pm
The Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS) needs to immediately remove Dekalb’s accreditation, in order to protect SACS’s reputation.
Baron DeKalb
February 8th, 2013
6:08 pm
@BU2 name me ONE Democrat that became a Republican that went to jail. John Lewis has never been even remotely charged with a crime. You are just throwing out Republican BS to see what sticks. Your homeboy Broach obviously sees anyone with a D by their name as a crook. Well, as Richard Nixon once said, “I am not a crook”….right. You Repubs have VERY selective memories. And we are wise to that.
bu2
February 8th, 2013
6:09 pm
Noone is defining “fundamental change.” Speeches and buzzwords are nice. Reality is concrete ideas on the ground.
emitch
February 8th, 2013
6:09 pm
Good move forward, Dr. Walker.
Dekalb parent
February 8th, 2013
6:10 pm
I
bu2
February 8th, 2013
6:15 pm
@Baron
I don’t think Broach was saying anything about jail. You’re being hypersensitive. I read his comment as dealing with DCSS which has had education and integrity issues, but no shortage of passion. And plenty of employing friends looking for jobs.
There have been several former Democrats criticized on ethical grounds starting with Governor Deal.
Baron DeKalb
February 8th, 2013
6:16 pm
Give Thurmond a chance. To all you educators, keep an open mind. Possessing multiple degrees in education does not make a person inherently qualified to run +$400 Million school construction program, or a mass transit system (i.e., the school bus department), or the IT program or the finance department etc. at a school system with 100,000 students. That has been a big part of the problem why superintendents are overmatched. Get assistant superintendents with strong education backgrounds to deal with the core education delivery issues. Listen to teachers on the front lines and run the whole system like “Not Johnny Brown” describes above.
Dekalb parent
February 8th, 2013
6:20 pm
I am speechless (so speechless I hit accidentally hit the send button). Mr. Thurmond may have been a fine labor commissioner, but DeKalb does not need an expensive figurehead right now. As Fran Millar said, the Board should have spent the past few weeks prepping for the continuation of their hearing.
Every organization should have a succession plan in case of an emergency or the CEO has a heart attack. Why didn’t DCSS? They should have made a temporary appointment of an insider who is familiar with operations to keep the key components running smoothly. Then “if” they get to keep their jobs, they can begin a careful and deliberative search for a new superintendent.
Maureen Downey
February 8th, 2013
6:23 pm
@Baron, On that note, I question all the mudslinging without any facts. Michael Thurmond has no record of corruption. He is respected by many people, including a lot of cranks I know. He was very focused on education issues while with labor.
Most of the anonymous sniping is baseless.
How about you all use your time on this blog more constructively? (As I have said, we are moving to registration on this blog in the next two weeks. I am hoping that runs off the folks who lob snark grenades purely to see them explode.)
Why not suggest some actual actions that Thurmond might consider? What should his priorities be in the first months?
Maureen
Pardon My Blog
February 8th, 2013
6:24 pm
@Baron – unfortunately we have had too many that we have had to give a “chance”. No wonder the district is broke, we are paying people enormous salaries to go away and pay their legal bills, even though most committed crimes against the system! Split the district then the south can pay the taxes to run the system how they see fit and then the North can have their taxes to run the system as they see fit. Thurmond is just one more clown in the parade of many!
agent
February 8th, 2013
6:26 pm
Ha, I can predict the future. I knew they would hire Thurmond. Now watch, the incompetent board will stay. Nobody will sleep better than Walker tonight.
Seriously folks, a corrupt board voted in someone they know will cover for them. Dekalb deserves what it gets. Good grief. You really have to literally murder someone and eat their brain to get fired.
agent
February 8th, 2013
6:27 pm
Maureen,
Thurmond’s first priority should be to get rid of the incompetent board members. How much do you want to bet that won’t happen?
MikeDawg
February 8th, 2013
6:30 pm
Baron DeKalb I was unaware that Schrenko or Swindall were even being considered for DCSS Super……….guess you like that “unity thing” above qualifications?
Maureen Downey
February 8th, 2013
6:31 pm
@agent, I plan to say the same thing in my Monday print column — but it’s not Thurmond’s job. Voters elected these folks, so Thurmond can’t dismiss them.
However, the state board can recommend that the governor oust the members. I think the board should save the governor the trouble.
The entire broad should resign. The three newly elected members can ask the governor to reappoint them, and I think he would.
Maureen
Concerned DeKalb Mom
February 8th, 2013
6:32 pm
@Maureen…
I appreciate your comments about constructive posts. But I think you understand better than most the frustration that DCSS parents and community have had for the past 4 years. Seriously, it’s been 4 years since this merry-go-round of superintendents began.
I am looking for a fresh start. I am NOT looking for someone I need to “wait and see” about and wonder about, given past connections to current BOE members. And I’m not lobbing charges of corruption–to be honest, I know nothing about Thurmond other than what I’ve seen reported by the AJC–but it is EXTREMELY frustrating to see the board choose as interim someone who can even be questioned as being a player in the Friends and Family game.
DrDr
February 8th, 2013
6:44 pm
What happened to R. Tyson?
Dunwoody Mom
February 8th, 2013
6:47 pm
What does a “great inspirational speaker” have to do with qualifications needed to turn around a SCHOOL district that is academicallly struggling? What does a “great inspirational speaker” have to do with running a school system facing financial ruin? Seriously, what is in Thurmond’s work experience that would lead anyone to believe he can deal with and solve the very serious issues facing this school district? I am appalled that we are asked to give someone a chance because he is “nice” and a “great motivational speaker” and “has no record of corruption”.
John Friedricks
February 8th, 2013
6:47 pm
The top two issues that need to be immediately addressed are finance and teacher moral. Every school system, but Dekalb in particular, needs a full time auditor to oversee the careless spending. As for morale, LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO STAND IN A CLASSROOM AND DO THE JOB. Keep it simple new dude. Get finance in order and give the teachers what they want to do the job. They know better than the fat cat political types. Lastly, you folks that chuck grenades in this forum but have never stepped into a classroom to do the job, pick up a lesson plan and educate kids before you present your opinions here. You have no clue and the malice you cast is counter-productive…but you are entitled to speak freely.
bu2
February 8th, 2013
6:53 pm
We need to build faith in the system as CDM says. A politician doesn’t achieve that.
Education is the other key issue. Yet we appointed someone without education experience.
We need to figure out what truly is necessary in the central office so we can reallocate resources to the classroom, but we are doing it with a man who hasn’t run a school system and whose subordinates will, understandably, all be afraid for their own jobs. From reading comments by teachers, we have already cut necessary support and left the unnecessary.
We need to have a plan for magnet and theme schools and understand what their role is. Right now it seems to be merely an way to escape from unacceptable neighborhood schools by those lucky enough or connected enough to get in them. But whatever he does, a permanent superintendent may have different ideas.
We also need to get off probation. Like Elgart said, it doesn’t seem to move us in that direction, unless, the board had found Atkinson difficult to work with (but they aren’t going to comment, so we don’t know why this mutual separation really occurred).
One thing he can do is lobby for changes in the school funding equalization formula. Its absurd that Dekalb is paying $100 million in and Gwinnett is getting $140 million out. That would help in funding. You can’t keep asking more from employees and paying them less.
Concerned DeKalb Mom
February 8th, 2013
6:53 pm
@Maureen…my first suggestion to our interim would be to find a way to REDUCE class sizes back to manageable numbers while figuring out how to manage the budget. We are already $16 million behind, and despite the $10 million raised by all the cuts last summer, we’re still in the hole. And it will be worse next year.
Mr. Thurmond…want to gain the trust and support of the DeKalb community? Throw the teachers some support and right-size their classes while making a budget stick. Find a way to do that and simultaneously financially support the TEACHERS, and I’ll sing your praises far and wide.
Political Mongrel
February 8th, 2013
6:54 pm
I have no problem with Mr. Thurmond, but I will never take any recommendation from Roy Barnes.
Wilbur
February 8th, 2013
7:03 pm
If King Roy thinks Thurmond is the right man, Run! Run like…well run far and fast.
quick
February 8th, 2013
7:03 pm
thanks for hiring robert guillaume.
mike mccain
February 8th, 2013
7:05 pm
The phrase “Blind leading the blind ” comes to mind with Thurmond taking over as School Superintendent. He wasn’t even a good Labor Commissioner! Dekalb County School Board is a bunch of idiots and are probably UGA graduates. Roy Barnes our so called “Education Govenor” is the one that started Georgia on this road down to the bottom of the list in state education standings. Wake up Dekalb County! Politicains are one of the reason our education system sucks.The other is the lack of involvement of parents in the school sytem and their childerns lives.
The tax payers deserve better!
Pardon My Blog
February 8th, 2013
7:08 pm
@ John Fredricks – what you don’t realize is that many of us who voice our opinions on this blogs have spent numerous hours volunteering at the schools and can see first hand the total incompetence from the classroom to the administration. Many of us are frustrated because there are teachers who should not be certified but in the classrooms, there are people at the central office who are not doing their jobs, there are individuals who are so overpaid in jobs they are not qualified for and we have had a parade of incompetent superintendents and board members.
Thurmond is a totally political move to provide income to a Friend! I say this contract should be null and void based on the fact that this Board may not be in existence in a couple of weeks.
DrDr
February 8th, 2013
7:12 pm
How many candidates did the board interview?
living in an outdated ed system
February 8th, 2013
7:13 pm
This is really tragic. This is now on the governor. And my opinion has nothing to do with whether or not Thurmond is a respected leader, which it sounds like he is, since former Governor Barnes was quick to endorse him. But the current governor’s failure to act at last month’s state board hearing has allowed a dysfunctional board to continue to act in ways that are not going to help their accreditation case.
We should have had a complete cleansing with a new board and new leadership. Unfortunately, this will not result in the reforms that the school system needs.
Train wreck.
Maureen Downey
February 8th, 2013
7:14 pm
@Dunwoody, You have to give him a chance because you have no choice. He has the job. And there is a lot more to his resume than the few things you list — those comments by me were in response to specific postings.
I don’t know if Thurmond will succeed or fail. No one does.
Thurmond is a smart man. He has run major agencies. Someone from DeKalb told me earlier this week that the district needs a good manager.
He may be one.
Maureen
Dunwoody Mom
February 8th, 2013
7:25 pm
LOL…this district needs a heck of a lot more than a good manager.
btw, I’ve seen his resume. Thurmond has zero, zilch, nada education experience. How is a lawyer and a former Labor Commissioner qualified for this job? Please explain. And the only reason he has this job is his relationship with a few BOE members. Family and Friends strikes again in DCSS.
Meredith
February 8th, 2013
7:26 pm
Here’s what scares me the most. I somehow feel if the most desired outcome came true: DeKalb Board removed, permanent superintendent is an outsider and white, central office bloat cut to requested levels, current executives replaced with perceived better quality replacements, and autonomy granted to parents; we would still NOT have a better situation. Why? The one element left that doesn’t get addressed is the race relation issue in DeKalb County amongst stakeholders, parents, and citizens. Who will hold the latter groups accountable for laying down hate and animosity to work together to provide our children with an example of living and working together in a diverse community of people? I won’t debate this statement … just sharing what is heavy on mind tonight.
Flabberghasted4sure
February 8th, 2013
7:31 pm
A few action items for Mr. Thurmond:
1. Do a complete inventory of staff and post a complete organizational chart on the web site so staff and parents know who is in what department and what their title/job is
2. Begin using online check register
3. Reduce central office staff – we surely can’t afford them now while paying 3 superintendents
4. Reduce class size with the money from CO reductions
5. Get rid of Success for All
6. Go back to the original calendar for next year and stop the conversation about early release days for next year
7. Build a budget without furlough days.
8. Do not carry through with the plan for the SAT for all 11th graders this spring
9. Institute an electronic procedure for tracking textbooks and reparing them.
10. Spend money designated for ebooks on updated technology in the school house
11. Call us DCSS, not DCSD (that’s Decatur City School District)
12. Get rid of the ’slogan’: “Victory in Every Classroom”
13. Remind March that she is not the boss
14. Restore K-9 units
15. Post names and contact info for the SPLOST 4 oversight cmte on the web site along with meeting dates/times/minutes
16. Collect data on block schedule schools: how many students graduate in 4 years, how many graduate with 32, 31, 30 credits,etc; how many repeat 1 class, 2 classes or repeat the same class multiple times, etc – don’t do an opinion survey aout whether studnets adn teacher like it, do a fact one and then decide if students are achieving on block;
17. Do a full forensic audit
18. Assess facilities management for efficiency – how quickly are work orders done, do schools have soap, paper towels and toilet paper
19. Restore school council voice in principal selection
20. Put money in TRS
21. Get control of Dr. Beasley
That’s a start.
The Deal
February 8th, 2013
7:32 pm
Maureen, put down the Kool-Aid and realize that anyone selected by this board is going to be a loser. I, along with many others, said it about Ramona Tyson and Cheryl Atkinson. We were villified for not giving her a chance. Look where that got us. I am tired of giving people who are obviously not qualified for this specific job a chance on the backs of my children and their teachers year after year after year. Thurmond may be a nice guy, a great speaker, or a good labor secretary, but he is NOT a school superintendent.
Who else was considered? Surely they interviewed more than one person for this quarter of a million dollar+ position? What is Thurmond’s specific plan? Surely they didn’t hire him without having an idea of how he planned to resolve our problems? This county is a train wreck.
There is literally no hope for this place. The only way our children will survive this is if the state BOE recommends removal, the governor follows through with it, our current BOE doesn’t sue and stay the order, the appointed board gets rid of Thurmond, and the appointed board looks at the previous list of qualified candidates and picks the #1 candidate with a record of managing a large school system, turning around a failing school system, managing a massive budget, and being an advocate for teachers. That is, unfortunately, not going to happen.
clem
February 8th, 2013
7:46 pm
as a pensioned public servant, is thurmond doing this for free or reduced rate?
parents in dekalb need to get their act together too! as archie bell and the drells would say “tighten up”
hopespringseternal
February 8th, 2013
7:49 pm
Uh – hang on. Like it or not, Michael Thurmond is the person a majority of the Board just voted in. Since the idea is to work for the school system’s improvement, maybe we should try to avoid choking him before he even takes a breath. If his only sin is to be friends with someone on the board, and none of you have thus far uncovered any smoking guns with this man’s experience of having served at least three terms in STATEWIDE office, having proffered himself as a U.S. Senate candidate (with all the vetting that went with it) and is a practicing attorney, maybe there should be a period of calm. Please.
Personally, I already know what it would take to get me on board with this selection. I’m sure everyone has their own “what it would takes”. So how about no Friday Feeding Frenzy. How about calm deliberation? If you want some modicum of stabilization this is what it will take to get us moving in the right direction.
Teach
February 8th, 2013
7:51 pm
Ill toss the first troll grenade.
1. Maureen, stop being the DeKalb apologist…
2. Its time for protests people. Get off your lazy butts “stakeholders” and pound the pavement. Apathy is keeping the ball rolling in DeKalb against your favor.
3. Someone please do research on Thurmond and Walker connections because Maureen is too scared to do it..
Dunwoody Mom
February 8th, 2013
7:51 pm
Hopespringseternal, what makes Thurmond qualified to be a School Superintendent?
td
February 8th, 2013
7:53 pm
I worked for Mr Thurman way back in the day when he was the Director of DFCS. He was all for Personal Responsibility and directed us to show “tough love” to the welfare clients when it came to them having to get off the system and become self sufficient.
If he still believes in this “tough love” approach then he could be very good for this position.
Bob Morris
February 8th, 2013
7:54 pm
Maureen,
Don’t you think Brad Bryant would have been a good choice. Do you know if he applied?
Burroughston Broch
February 8th, 2013
8:00 pm
@ Baron DeKalb
And exactly where did I state that it was an easy job? It’s a far thing from an easy job.
You worry about your words and I’ll worry about mine.
I am a professional but not an educator, I am not qualified for this job, and I wouldn’t take it if offered. I have more sense than Mike Thurmond. He’s an out-of-power politican who wants back into the power game without having to run for election. The last time out he only polled 39% of the vote.
agent
February 8th, 2013
8:00 pm
Who else was interviewed for this position? Please tell me they interviewed other people. On a side note, I think I should be given a chance as CEO of Google because I’m nice, don’t have a corrupt background, and have no experience whatsoever as a CEO. Snicker.
hopespringseternal
February 8th, 2013
8:04 pm
@DM, I don’t recall declaring that I thought him qualified to be a school superintendent. I simply said that he is the one voted upon, therefore he’s in there now and I’d like to wait until he fails at something or several somethings before I skewer him. In any case, if he’s a good manager as some people say, he’ll be smart enough to get deputies who DO know the business of running a school system — on both the instructional and financial fronts. He’ll also be smart enough to know that parents don’t waste a lot of time piddling with poor leadership, because they have no time when it comes to their children. He was never a labor commissioner before he became a labor commissioner, and I don’t recall him stumbling over his shoes then. Leadership is leadership is leadership — and in many cases can be ported from one environment to another. We’ll just have to see (again).
bu2
February 8th, 2013
8:10 pm
@agent
Sen. Millar said he knew of quite a few people they talked to. They probably did have a hard time finding someone willing to take it. That’s the only thing positive I can say about picking a politician instead of an educator.
Georgia
February 8th, 2013
8:10 pm
Waiting for registration, the great equalizer. Good luck, Mr Thurmond.
bootney farnsworth
February 8th, 2013
8:14 pm
the issue here isn’t Mike.
the issue here is how Mike got the job, if he’s qualified to do it (IMO, no) and who is supporting him
-King Roy and his Highenss Walker.
it reeks of friends and family, if not outright cronyism. and sends absolutely the worst message.
bu2
February 8th, 2013
8:19 pm
@hope
There are several issues:
1) We aren’t likely to get good lieutenants between now and June. So he will basically have to set up next year with the current staff.
2) While the district clearly needs better administrative leadership, it has a lot of academic challenges that the current staff hasn’t successfully dealt with. And he doesn’t have the background to deal with. So again, we are treading water for months as we did for a year and a half with Tyson.
3) He is starting fresh with the staff and doesn’t know their strengths and weaknesses. He will spend a while learning about them and the district while learning about leading a school district as well.
In a different situation he might be a good choice.
d
February 8th, 2013
8:20 pm
@Maureen – just one question totally off topic, but since you mentioned the registered blogs, will I be able to keep my current screen name with that?
@Flabber…. I agree with you on most points, but there are a few that I cannot….
6 – The calendar for next year is our “original calendar.” Personally, it is the one I supported anyway, so I’d like to keep it, but it did not replace any other calendar for 2013-2014.
9 – We already track textbooks with the students (although I don’t think that’s what you were worried about) – what we need in place is a strict policy about getting the books back at the end of the semester. Too many kids hold on to them until 12th grade when they find out they can’t walk at graduation if they don’t fix their book issues. Why does a sophomore need a biology book sitting at his house that he’s just too lazy to get back to the school so another student can use it?
11 – Decatur is CSD – City Schools of Decatur. Although, we did pay $5,000 to get the new logo with DeKalb County School System – how much did we have to pay to remake them?
20 – The county is paying into TRS. They don’t have a choice. What was suspended was the county Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA). Personally, I’d prefer DeKalb go back to Social Security.
Add – Don’t pay Pearson $1.8 Million to write benchmark tests. We had tests written already by DeKalb Teachers. Just imagine what would have happened if that money was put in the local economy by paying teachers to write the tests. That was RTTT money, not general fund money.
Add – look at the local supplements. New teachers and teachers with 20+ years are getting decent local supplements, look at all the teachers in the middle who are only making state minimum (which means DeKalb isn’t paying us a dime to teach). My entire salary is from the state, so it doesn’t save the district anything to furlough me.
DunMoody
February 8th, 2013
8:21 pm
I have no problem with Thurmond not having an education background. As an interim superintendent, I think that could be an asset, particularly if he focuses on redundant and oversalaried personnel in the central office, balancing the books with real numbers, and putting money back into the schools in terms of teacher salaries and student-centered education. Will he consider local control in terms of a portfolio-style model? Will he restore trust in central office management by eliminating unqualified and redundant staff? At this point, DeKalb needs someone who has the courage and the connections to clean house. Will Thurmond’s ties to Walker & Co. make him a paper tiger? Or is he the agent for change that DeKalb needs … and deserves? Hope for the latter.
bootney farnsworth
February 8th, 2013
8:23 pm
@ everybody
Maureen says you have to give him a chance because you have no choice.
like hell.
you have every choice, if enough of you wish to take it. you can raise holy hell with the county, the state, and demand Deal step in and make this null and void.
if enough of you raise enough hell, you can force the system to act. but you have to act to make the system act. and you can challenge this in court if you wish.
the one thing which school systems, especially corrupt ones like DCSS fear above all else is sustainted publicity.
not saying it’ll be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is.
put up with this because you have no choice….sorry, that dog doesn’t hunt.
you still have the power, if you choose to use it.