New Atlanta schools leader begins building her team

The beginnings of a new Atlanta Public Schools senior leadership team has been brought on to work for incoming Superintendent Meria Carstarphen.

The Atlanta school board voted unanimously Monday night to hire Carstarphen’s first five employees, including a senior accountability officer and another executive for her top staff.

All of the hires worked under Carstarphen when she was superintendent in Austin, Texas, a job she left last month.

“I want to be ready on Day One to serve our 50,000 APS students,” Carstarphen said in a statement. “We all know that APS requires some heavy lifting, and I am excited to put a team in place that can provide leadership and execution in the review of major structures in the organization including curriculum instruction, operations, finance, recruitment and an assessment of the district’s needs and priorities.”

Pamela Hall was executive director of human resources in Austin, but it hadn’t been determined what position she will handle in Atlanta. The city school system’s current chief human resources officer is Ron Price.

Bill Caritj, the chief performance officer in Austin, will become responsible for accountability in Atlanta, a new position Carstarphen has said is needed to ensure the integrity of testing and data.

Carstarphen is already working for Atlanta Public Schools during a two-month transition before she takes over daily oversight of the school district July 7.

“We want to be able to give her an opportunity to have a running start,” said school board chairman Courtney English after Monday’s vote.

Carstarphen’s three other first hires are Skye Duckett, a senior human resources officer; Timothy Gadson, a curriculum and instruction officer; and Tammie Workman, a curriculum and instruction officer.

Separately, the Atlanta Board of Education voted Monday to hire nine school principals, filling nearly half of the district's 19 principal openings.

Superintendent Erroll Davis, who plans to retire this summer, said Carstarphen met with all of the principals before they were hired.

About the Author

Mark Niesse

Mark Niesse covers Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.

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