All Articles Tagged "khaatim sherrer el"
Four APS Superintendents Removed in Scandal Fallout
(AJC) –Interim Superintendent Erroll Davis replaced four area superintendents with principals Monday and former school board chairman Khaatim Sherrer El announced his resignation in the continuing fallout from a cheating scandal that has overwhelmed Atlanta Public Schools. ”I just concluded in the end it just shouldn’t be this hard to do the right things for kids,” El said, his voice wavering with emotion as he fought back tears. “I failed to protect thousands of children who come from homes like mine. It remains to be seen, no matter how deep this thing goes, whether the soul of Atlanta has been stirred.” El had been removed last month as school board chairman but able to retain his seat on the board. El has accepted a new job as chief of staff for the Foundation for Newark’s Future in Newark, N.J. He was one of the first on the board last year to question APS whether was doing enough to respond to cheating concerns.
APS Accepts Leader's Resignation
(AJC) — The Atlanta Public Schools board on Monday night voted to formally accept the resignation of Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El, though that action was far from unanimous and seems unlikely to meet a judge’s stated criteria — leaving members as embattled as ever. El and Vice Chairwoman Cecily Harsch-Kinnane will leave their respective leadership posts only if a Fulton County judge approves the move. The board’s 5-4 vote included that request as part of its motion but was amended at the last minute by member Yolanda Johnson, who insisted that the board ask the judge to clarify his previous stance that El’s leadership was lawful. While the general motion had been accepted by members going into the meeting, Johnson’s amendment caught some by surprise. They voted against it. Here’s the complication: The board had been told by the system’s attorney that the judge would look for a unanimous request in order to grant it. Additionally, El has said he will not step down without the judge’s sign-off.
Atlanta School Board's New Path
(AJC) — With Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El finally bowing to pressure to remove himself from leadership, it’s now make-or-break for the faltering Atlanta school board. Over the next several weeks, a small delegation of members will fan out across the city and meet with key stakeholders to seek at least tacit approval for the change, which is meant to signal consensus among feuding board members. Notification will go to perhaps its most imperative stakeholder: the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which put the school district on accredited probation with a Sept. 30 deadline to improve. Just as important, key legal issues must be decided by July 1, a state-imposed deadline that could end in the entire board’s removal. The decision “is the most significant step that has been made so far and allows the board to get serious,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who disavowed El both for the controversy he created when he claimed the board’s chairmanship last year and the way he responded to the school district’s accrediting agency as it ultimately sanctioned the board.
APS Chairman to Step Down
(AJC) — Atlanta school board Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El agreed Monday to step down from leadership. El and other members sought assurances that the move would unify the board and assure city leaders of its intent to win favor with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which put the district on probation. The decision is not immediate and not yet binding. The board took no formal vote; two members, Emmett Johnson and LaChandra Butler Burks, did not attend the meeting. Instead, it will now quickly reach out to SACS, city leaders including Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and a Fulton County judge — who needs to sign off on the change — to clear a path. ”OK, you win,” said El, who has been blasted by Reed, business leaders and even some board members after controversially taking the chairmanship last year. One of his strongest allies on the board, member Yolanda Johnson, said the board had no choice but to make a change, adding that “people have been bullied and coerced.”
Ethics Panel to Investigate Atlanta School Board Chair
(AJC) — An ethics panel related to the Atlanta school board has decided to investigate whether Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El wrongfully used an outside communications firm last year during a lawsuit that split the board. The decision was made after the panel received two complaints — including one filed by El himself — about his use of the Atlanta-based Alisias Group. Alisias President Richard White said Thursday that his firm billed the legal firm that represented El and other board members in their defense against the suit that sought to overturn El’s September appointment as board chairman. The legal firm, Lightmas & Delk, then included Alisias’ costs in the overall bill it submitted to Atlanta Public Schools. The system, however, denied payment to Alisias. El last year had also sought to pay Alisias as much as $23,000 over three months to provide “crisis communications counsel” and help plan community meetings.
School Board Chief Wants $23K for PR
(Atlanta Journal Constitution) — Atlanta school board Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El proposes paying an outside company as much as $23,000 over three months to provide “crisis communications counsel” and help plan community meetings. The firm, Atlanta-based Alisias Group, has done work for the lawyer who represents El and other board members in defending against a lawsuit that seeks to overturn El’s September appointment as board chairman, Alisias President Richard White said. The additional proposed work for the school board is unrelated, White said. When it would be set in motion is unclear because it has not yet been approved by the board.
