By Lisa Ramsey
SUGAR HILL, Ga. | The Gwinnett County Public School’s (GCPS) board continues to miss the point of why so many are upset with the board’s fiscal irresponsibility and support HB767.
That was never clearer than the social media posts from the “poor bullied Black women” on the board. But this has never been a black vs. white issue. This is about fiscal irresponsibility and a lack of trust in the board. Being a public servant isn’t easy, but as the face of GCPS, these five individuals are subject to public opinion, good and bad.
Many supporters and detractors agree on the following points:
- Former Supt. Calvin Watts should have been fired with cause (i.e.: the clear backpack fiasco). There are consequences for actions. His consequence should have been to be fired.
- We want a forensic audit of the entire system. If nothing is wrong, they should welcome an audit. The price of the audit would be far less than some of the financial decisions over the last four years.
- The increase in positions at the Instructional Support Center averaging $200K plus doesn’t match student growth. Those positions must be justified going forward or eliminated.
Where we disagree:
This has never been about demographics. We don’t worry about color; that is a simple distraction. It’s about whether the board’s policies and decisions benefit all the students, so that they will have a chance at the next level.
Here are some examples of their choices not benefiting the students:
- Non-renewal vs. firing with cause of Supt. Watts. This is costing the taxpayers a minimum of $1 million in severance, plus the cost of another superintendent search
- Clear backpacks.
- $1 million for a promo video for their program within a GCPS school. However, the “program” they were hired to do never happened.
- Expeditionary Learning Education: this was brought in by Nakia Towns after failing in Tennessee and was highly panned by the teaching staff before it was forced upon them. Now they spend their time working around it. It does not close the achievement gap, it widens it.
- Blaming Alvin Wilbanks. He wasn’t perfect, but under his tenure GCPS was a top school system; a place where teachers wanted to teach not flee; where students succeeded at the next level because the bar was raised for all. Under Watts, GCPS has gone backwards no matter how they try to spin the numbers.
So, which is it? Is the board serving for the good of ALL students and staff?
Or are the board members serving to further their own agenda and ego at the expense of the students and staff?
It is never too late to make better decisions to make Gwinnett County Public Schools great again. But it will take all of them to work together and put aside their individual agendas and egos.
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