DeKalb Superintendent Devon Horton’s proposed restructuring of top-level positions would include changes to job titles and compensation for some recent hires.
The school board on Monday approved the hiring of several new employees who have worked with Horton in the past. On Wednesday, a proposal posted on the district’s website detailed a $10.4 million plan to add more than 50 jobs and change a number of existing ones at the district level.
Part of that plan includes adjusting the titles and paying more for the positions that Horton has already filled. Two of those positions are slated for changes in titles and compensation, according to the proposal. One of the new hires is getting a position that was eliminated in last year’s budget, but would be added back in. The cost for the changes to these positions alone is estimated to total $237,000, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found, based on a review of the proposal.
“These exceptionally talented leaders join an already outstanding district leadership team,” Horton said in a news release Thursday. “I am confident that together, we will swiftly and strategically work to enhance academic achievement and revolutionize our processes and structures to best ensure the success and well-being of our students.”
Each of the positions filled at Horton’s first board meeting earlier this week was previously vacant, Horton said in the news release.
Michelle Dillard, who worked with Horton in Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, was hired as DeKalb’s associate superintendent of leadership and schools. That position would become chief of schools, and that change would cost an estimated $32,090 more.
Markisha Mitchell, who worked with Horton in Illinois, was hired as DeKalb’s associate superintendent of continuous improvement. That position would become chief of the office of continuous improvement, which would cost an estimated $35,700 more.
The AJC requested the salaries for the new hires, as well as the employees who served in the roles previously, but has not yet received a response. State salary data and information from the proposal indicate that salaries tend to top $200,000 for jobs at that level.
Elijah Palmer, who also worked with Horton in Illinois, was hired as DeKalb’s director of organizational effectiveness. This position was removed from the district’s budget in the previous fiscal year, according to the plan, and would be added back in at an estimated cost of $169,032. The person who last filled the role in 2022 made $91,306, according to state salary data.
Antonio Ross, who created an LLC with Horton and whose separate business was hired to do work for the Illinois district Horton led, a parent found via public records requests, was hired as the district’s director of leadership development. Ross turned down the job for personal reasons and intends to pursue another opportunity, the district confirmed in a news release Thursday. Decaturish first reported that Ross would not accept the job.
Under the restructuring plan, the director of leadership development role would be upgraded to an executive director role, which would cost an estimated $12,867 more.
The school board approved the coming year’s budget less than two weeks before Horton started as superintendent.
The district previously declined to comment on the proposed restructuring, but board members will meet at 10 a.m. Monday to discuss the plan, as well as a recent state audit that suggested DeKalb has work to do on its finances.
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