Two weeks after former Buford City Schools superintendent Geye Hamby resigned amid allegations he went on rant laced with profanity, racial slurs and threats against African-American construction workers, the district is working to build back trust. One way they are trying to do that is by bringing back from retirement former Assistant Superintendent Joy Davis.
However, her reinstallation was done quietly, and parents in the school district were not informed of her comeback until after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found out and broke the news. Davis was appointed after a heated board meeting where the public comment period turned into a succession of chastisements from residents. Board members told a lone remaining AJC reporter after the main session ended to leave, and they headed into executive session in a back room.
In the board’s haste, no contract of employment was agreed upon. It will be settled at the next regular board meeting September 24 at 7 p.m.
"Since assuming the role of Interim Superintendent, Ms. Davis has engaged with various stakeholders throughout the community including having a daily presence in all four schools and meeting with a number of parents individually to hear their concerns first hand," wrote school board attorney Gregory Jay. "She is also diligently taking steps to formulate a strategic plan in terms of the District's communication and interaction with its stakeholders."
It is unclear whether Davis is getting paid, or how much. Jay did not answer repeated questions by the AJC about that issue.
Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, called the situation “highly unusual.”
“There could be a lot of reasons why she’d work without a contract for now,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine someone filling a job as important and stresssful as superintendent for free.”
Since Davis is a retiree, it’s important to follow guidelines set forth by the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia regarding receiving retirement benefits while also drawing a salary. She has been cleared to fill the interim superintendent position, said Jay, who added that Davis’ salary is anticipated to be commensurate with a superintendent in the metro Atlanta area.
If Davis’ salary stays the same as the one she had before she retired that would be $200,000 a year. If she would be compensated at Hamby’s level it would be $308,000. Both salaries were considerably higher than other city school districts in metro Atlanta with more students enrolled. Buford City Schools has less than 5,000 students. In the 2016-2017 school year, the superintendent of Marietta City Schools, with 8,884 students, was paid $110,810. The superintendent of Rome City Schools, with 6,383 students, was paid $156,588, according to year-old information from the state Department of Education.
But Davis told Jay she doesn’t anticipate she’ll be the superintendent for long.
Search firms have been identified, and she anticipates the board will take action later this month to initiate a search for a new superintendent. The process will include participation from the community.
“I believe it is paramount to work collaboratively with the community to ensure the well-being and achievement of all our students. A great deal of Buford’s success is a product of its community and parent engagement and we hope to increase this outreach even further,” said Davis.
Our reporting so far
On August 21, the AJC broke the story that a race-discrimination lawsuit had been filed against Buford City Schools. It contained a recording submitted as evidence, allegeldy of Superintendent Geye Hamby, using racist language and speaking of wanting to kill black construction workers who had angered him. The AJC covered a school board meeting where the community expressed outrage, and Hamby’s resignation was accepted. While digging deeper into the story, AJC reporters encountered resistance from school officials, board members and legal counsel in speaking about the matter. They refused to return most phone calls or emails. School Board Chairman Phillip Beard did sit for one interview.
In seeking information for this story, a reporter attempted at least a dozen times to reach Beard and interim superintendent Joy Davis for comment about Davis’ appointment as interim superintendent. One board member told the AJC that she “doesn’t speak to the media — ever.”
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