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DeKalb County school district: Credit rating stable, also wins $3 million grant from Wallace Foundation

by David Pendered

A New York credit rating agency on Tuesday assigned a top score to the $36 million bond package the DeKalb County school district intends to sell Wednesday.

Also Tuesday, the Wallace Foundation announced DeKalb as a recipient of a $3 million grant to improve the leadership skills of its principal supervisors or regional superintendents, and to increase the number of regional superintendents in order to reduce a span-of-control that now averages 27 direct reports.

Taken together, the measures mark the continuation of the district’s slow but steady improvement from situations involving its accreditation probation and fiscal management in the 16 months since the DeKalb school board first named former state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond as interim superintendent.

Posted inColumns, Michelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

What to do with a rabid cat

by Ben Smith

Until you’ve been chased by an animal that’s foaming at the mouth, you haven’t really experienced the terror of rabies. 

Recent reports of potentially rabid animals threatening humans have reminded me of my own encounter with a rabid cat that I trapped with a recycling bin in my DeKalb County backyard just as it leapt to attack me. While it sounds like a freak occurrence, it’s surprisingly common especially during our warmest months, and it’s dead serious.

Last Thursday, a 13-year-old boy strangled a fox that had bit him. He’s receiving precautionary anti-rabies treatment pending the outcome of tests to determine if the animal was rabid.

Posted inDavid Pendered

DeKalb County’s interim CEO outlines plan to restore pride, performance

by David Pendered

DeKalb County interim CEO Lee May delivered a State of the County Address Thursday in which he promised a bright future while acknowledging his temporary seat in the county’s top office.

May named problems and proposed solutions. He portrayed his office and the Board of Commissioners as working together, rather than feuding. He said DeKalb’s young people will benefit from a new Office of Youth Services and a functioning school superintendent and board of education.

May took the stage around 8 p.m. and introduced his wife and mother of his two, soon to be three, children, Robin May. Quickly, the faith leader reached into the Old Testament to open his address with the biblical figure Nehamiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem – a task May likened to the rebuilding of DeKalb after CEO Burrell Ellis was indicted last year on felony charges of public corruption.

Posted inColumns, Michelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

No quit in football team of Atlanta immigrants

by Ben Smith

Down 41-0 at halftime Friday night, the Cross Keys Indians could have easily folded. They had every reason to be discouraged: They haven’t had a winning season since 1994. They haven’t won a game since Sept. 16, 2011.

But these sons of immigrants, first generation Americans and football players, never fold. Just as their parents haven’t given up on building a good life in a sometimes inhospitable land of opportunity, so too, it seems, these teenagers keep believing they can master a game that was alien to them as children.  

“Giving up is for punks,” said senior quarterback and free safety Oluwatomi “Tomi” Adedayo, whose team of 37 players includes 16 born in Asia, Africa, and Central America. “You start to give up and they’ll see it in your eyes. So you just keep your head up and you keep fighting.”

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

Astronaut’s visit, kids’ space dreams boost Fernbank and NASA

by Michelle Hiskey

Midway through last week’s brutality and mayhem, 200 people got a radically different global perspective when astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson showed up at the Fernbank Science Center in northeast Atlanta. NASA has a mission to reach far into the universe; Fernbank’s is to spark the imaginations of children and instill a passion for science. Both are trying to preserve their missions for future generations amid an ever-present threat of budget cuts, and an Evening with an Astronaut night was their combined effort.

Dyson described peering out of the cupola of the International Space Station to the blue-marble Earth and her eyes filling with tears. But tears don’t fall in space. Hers stuck to her eyeballs. Through that film, her view of our planet and its people deepened, to greater care and hope.

Posted inDavid Pendered

State of Gwinnett : Chairman Charlotte Nash addresses past woes, bright future; promotes citizenship

by David Pendered

Gwinnett County commission Chairman Charlotte Nash laid her cards on the table Wednesday in her “State of the County” address.

The speech presented some challenges – the economy is harsh, the county budget is lean and getting leaner. Fresh allegations of public corruption in DeKalb County are reminders of Gwinnett’s recent and continuing problems.

Nash met it all head-on in her opening remarks: “Gwinnett’s story has been filled with ups and downs and plots twists along the way. The last few chapters were painful at times, and a few characters have been removed. But overall, Gwinnett’s story is a tale of success and a testament to those who made it happen.”

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