Gov. Deal Appoints New DeKalb School Board Members

Governor Nathan Deal has just announced the names of the people he is appointing to replace the six members of the DeKalb School Board.  WABE’s Martha Dalton was there and tweeted some bulletins from the Governor’s press conference, which we have summarized below:

• The newly appointed school board members are John Coleman, Michael Irwin, David Campbell, Joyce Morley, Karen Carter, and Thaddeus Mayfield.
• Gov. Deal said that he told the new school board members that he doesn’t want governance to be an issue, and that their board duties are to take high priority.
• None of the previous DeKalb school board members were reappointed because Gov. Deal wanted members to be able to start with a clean slate.  He indicated that the new board members were selected to reflect the racial makeup of the school districts they will represent.
• When asked about potential legal challenges, Gov. Deal said that he is following the law, including the recent federal ruling that allowed him to proceed.
• The Governor said that several of the new DeKalb school board members are experienced in mediation.
• Gov. Deal emphasized that maintaining the accreditation of DeKalb’s school system is his primary focus.

We will provide more detail as it becomes available.

For updates, follow the WABE newsroom on Twitter at @wabenews. Follow Martha Dalton at @wabedalton.