DeKalb County Schools superintendent rumored to step down

• Dekalb County Schools
• Some believe that Cheryl Atkinson may soon resign as the head of the DeKalb County School District.

If the speculation is true, Dekalb County Schools might soon be on the lookout for a new superintendent.

Late last week, WABE reported that Dr. Cheryl Atkinson is likely to resign from her leadership position after rumors began to arise regarding her future as the school system’s superintendent.

“There is deep speculation that she will be leaving sometime within the next week or two,” David Schutten, the president of the Organization of DeKalb Educators, told WABE last Friday. “I did call her and ask her and she said she couldn’t comment.”

Not much has been said as to why Atkinson would exactly step down. But in recent months, the school system has received flak over several matters, most recently the handling of a school official’s plagiarized report. Last December, some DeKalb residents called for Atkinson - along with the rest of the county’s school board - to be ousted after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the entire school system on probation.

The DeKalb School Board appointed Atkinson in September 2011, which made her the school district’s third superintendent in the last three years. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Maureen Downey recently asked Atkinson if she’s leaving her post, to which she replied: “I can’t say anything about that.”

Atkinson was absent from a school board’s meeting this afternoon at its Stone Mountain headquarters. The board ultimately rescheduled a vote after failing to give proper notice for a decision that would have elected a new chairperson.

Spokesman Jeff Dickerson told CL this morning that the conversation surrounding Atkinson’s position was simply speculation and added that he “hadn’t heard anything” to the contrary. We’ll post an update if anything further develops regarding her possible resignation or the outcome of the board’s election.