City Schools of Decatur hosted an emergency board meeting on April 4 to authorize Superintendent Dr. Gyimah Whitaker to respond to recent federal and state orders.
An executive session lasted from Noon to 12:30, and a two-minute-long virtual meeting followed. During the meeting, the board gave Whitaker authority to respond to recent federal orders. Board members appeared deflated on the Zoom call and did not offer any specifics about what prompted the emergency meeting or what Whitaker was being authorized to do.
After being called to order at 12:33 p.m., the board had a roll call. Board member James Herndon made the motion to authorize a response from Whitaker, with vice chair Hans Utz seconding. All board members were in favor, and then the meeting was abruptly adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
No more details were given, but the meeting comes after several executive orders under President Donald Trump’s administration have recently targeted the Department of Education and DEI programs. CSD has been open about its equity initiatives in the past.
As of Friday afternoon, April 4, CSD’s equity page had been removed from the district’s website.
