The Atlanta school board swore in Tolton R. Pace as its newest member Tuesday. He will fill the District 6 seat, representing parts of southwest Atlanta.
Eshé Collins stepped down from the post in December after winning a spot on the Atlanta City Council. The school board began interviewing candidates shortly afterward and narrowed the field down to three finalists: Pace, Nathan Jester and Wayne Martin Jr. District 6 includes much of south Atlanta.
Pace is an Atlanta native and was the valedictorian at Frederick Douglass High School in 1996, according to a news release. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Emory University. Pace is a senior program officer at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, where he focuses on economic mobility and affordable housing. He has worked with several youth-centered nonprofits over the past 20 years.
“The Board is pleased to welcome Tolton as we work to expand initiatives that create meaningful opportunities for our students,” Atlanta school board Chair Erika Mitchell said in a news release.
During a community meeting Monday where the three finalists were interviewed, Pace took out a $20 bill during his closing remarks and pretended to offer it to an attendee.
“If I gave you this $20 bill, would you take it?” he asked. When the woman responded yes, he crumpled it up.
“What if I folded it like this?” he asked “You’d still take it, right? What if I threw it on the ground?”
When the audience responded “yes” to each question, he asked them why.
“It still has value, and that’s what I want to keep at the forefront,” he said. “If I assume this position as the District 6 representative, that every single student, every single family in our district, has value, and nobody should be left behind.”
Pace will finish Collins’ term, which ends in December. He has said he will run for reelection in the fall.
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