Bernice Gregory, the DeKalb County School District human resources chief who came to the district last spring, has resigned immediately, following concerns with a recently approved salary schedule.
An email sent to staff this morning announced Gregory’s departure. Linda Woodard, who recently retired from the school district, will return to run the department on an interim basis.
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Gregory said this morning by phone that her resignation was not related to the salary schedule. She said she submitted her resignation earlier this month, but Superintendent Steve Green did not accept it.
Green told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Thursday that the human resources department would need "a total inside-out overhaul" following implementation of a new salary schedule that resulted in some teachers receiving raises as low as 1 cent when they should have received several hundred dollars. Gregory said she requested this morning that her earlier resignation be honored.
“I wanted to do what’s positive with the district,” she said. “I just don’t see anything getting better, and it’s wearing me out.”
She said some of her frustration was how the district went about its decision-making. She often butted heads with the school board over her monthly reports.
“I have nothing negative to say, though,” she said. “They gave me an opportunity and I tried to do the best I could, which is what I always do.”
She said she was proud of the work she’s done in less than a year to boost morale in her department, as well as work on teacher retention and layers of security used in hiring effective, qualified teachers.
She did not mention any future plans.
This story is developing.
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