Georgia state School Superintendent Richard Woods is weighing in on the DeKalb County school board’s decision to hire a new leader, saying he would prefer that the district keep its interim superintendent for now.
“In her brief tenure as interim superintendent, Dr. Vasanne Tinsley has been responsive and has produced results for DeKalb County Schools,” Woods wrote in a letter to the DeKalb board obtained Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Woods’ letter does not mention Devon Horton, who currently leads a small school district in Illinois and is the sole finalist for the DeKalb school system’s top job.
Horton describes himself as “a disruptive” and “anti-racist” leader, according to his bio. That might not sit well with some top Republicans, including Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Board of Education. Kemp pushed the board to approve a 2021 resolution asserting that the state and country are not racist and that there should be guardrails around classroom discussions about race and controversial historical events.
State lawmakers followed last year with a law limiting classroom discussions about race.
Woods has been less strident on the issue than some fellow Republicans. For instance, after the state board approved that 2021 resolution, he merely observed in a statement that it “took action regarding Critical Race Theory” and added that he was committed to “uniting” people and ensuring all children get a “great” education.
Conservative groups have been critical of Horton’s work as superintendent of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois.
At a town hall meeting at Chamblee High School on Wednesday, he said it was true that he called people who questioned his decision to send marginalized students back to in-person learning first during the coronavirus pandemic “white supremacists.” It was a mistake he made during a heated time — shortly after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, he said. Horton also said that a current lawsuit that accuses him of discriminating against white people was based on things that happened prior to his arrival in the Illinois district.
Horton emphasized that if hired, he would value community input and put students first.
”Thank you for showing your passion, it’s really important,” he told audience members Wednesday. “The transparency that you’re pushing for, we will do that under my leadership.”
This isn’t the first time Woods has intervened in DeKalb school politics. Last year, he chastised the district over “egregious facility issues” at Druid Hills High School. The school had been the center of a districtwide debate after students released a video showing water-damaged ceilings and walls, electrical hazards and plumbing issues.
The conflict preceded the firing of Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris in a split vote in April 2022.
In his new letter to the DeKalb board, Woods said Tinsley has worked to partner with his office and “repair relationships.” DeKalb is at a “critical juncture,” he wrote, noting that while the selection of a superintendent is the DeKalb board’s responsibility, “I respectfully urge you to pause the selection process” to give Tinsley more time “to get the district on solid footing.”
The DeKalb school board announced Horton as its sole superintendent finalist on April 4. Board member Joyce Morley told the AJC that her board was split between Horton and interim Superintendent Vasanne Tinsley. Morley, who has supported Tinsley for the job, said Friday she agreed with Woods’ sentiments in the letter.
The DeKalb board is legally required to make at least one finalist public for 14 days before voting to officially hire someone.
Horton would be the ninth superintendent in DeKalb since 2010.
