For years, the Gwinnett County Public Schools’ student population has been racially diverse. For most of that time though, those students have been represented by an all-white school board.
The ‘Lag Effect’
In 2018, voters elected Gwinnett’s first board member of color, Everton “EJ” Blair, a graduate of Shiloh High School. Then, in November 2020, two women of color were elected to the board: Dr. Tarece Johnson and Karen Watkins. Now the board has three members of color and two white board members.
The demographic shift has led to some tense board meetings recently.
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