STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga.,None — After months of searching, DeKalb County Schools once again has a finalist to lead its district.
School board members have chosen Cheryl Atkinson as their choice for superintendent of the school district. Atkinson is currently serving as the leader of a small district just outside of Cleveland, Ohio.
School board chairmen Tom Bowen told Channel 2s Tony Thomas he hopes to smooth things out now that he believes the board has finally found a new superintendent.
What the district is looking for is someone who will not take what we have today, Bowen said.
DeKalb school leaders hope Atkinson get the district back on firm ground. The school board named her as their choice late Friday night.
I believe I'm the person that can lead that effort, Atkins said.
Atkinson is currently the superintendent of Loraine Ohio Schools, a small struggling district. If she looks familiar, that may be because she was a finalist for the Atlanta Public Schools top job earlier this year. She was also up for the superintendent job in Cleveland last month and spoke her philosophy.
I believe in an inclusive process not only to change, but for change. And I believe in teaming and having everybody, Atkinson said.
When Thomas asked Bowen what Atkins first challenge was going to be, he said, Academics. The district has been in transition a lot the last two years.
That transition includes two failed searches for a superintendent, infighting on the board and a former superintendent and administrator indicted on corruption charges.
Bowen told Thomas the new superintendents main task will be student achievement and nothing else.
We don't need to bring in someone new if we weren't looking to make substantive changes, Bowen said.
By state law, DeKalb Schools has to wait 14 days before officially hiring Atkinson as the superintendent.
Bowen said that vote will occur just after the two weeks and assuming she's approved, she will be on the job before the end of September.
WSBTV
