DeKalb County school librarian pushes for more staff Board extends contract for interim superintendent

from Dunwoody Crier - April 27, 2023

Festival:

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Miriam Martin, Lakeside High School media specialist, says she performs an essential piece to a child’s learning behavior.

“We teach the joy of reading. Reading is essential to learning,” Martin said. “If you cannot read you cannot think and reflect. Being able to read makes every dream possible.”

But while the media center at her school on Briarcliff Road is well-stocked with resources, Martin said staffing isn’t adequate, a residual effect of the 2008 economic turndown. She manages a $25,000 budget.

“The school district decimated the media center staffing — 15 years later, our staffing has not fully recovered,” said Martin, standing before the DeKalb County School Board at its April 17 meeting.

April is School Library Month. To celebrate, DeKalb School Board member Whitney McGinnis delivered a proclama- tion that included Lakeside High School’s win in a state competition for reading.

Lakeside’s media center, which serves 2,200 students, is staffed at the same level as an elementary school with 450 students, Martin said. Last year, she said its media center had more than 10,000 student visits. This year, she said the media center has already gone over 16,000.

Lakeside High School currently has one media specialist, Martin, and one library media assistant.

“Why is staffing not predicated on enrollment?” Martin asked.

Martin shared her concern about sending students to college without knowledge and skills of the research process. The school district no longer requires students to read a certain number of books, she said, nor does it require a research paper, even in Advanced Placement classes.

“The district talks about rigor. Where is the rigor? Show me the rigor,” Martin said. “We need a well-staffed media center to teach reading and research skills for our students.”

Martin voiced a wealth of resources at Lakeside High School. But a student at Columbia Middle School said she didn’t have access to the material she needed to complete a project relating to studying notable individuals of color.

She expressed her hope to see more diversity in textbooks and in classes she takes next year when she moves onto high school and requested a requirement for African American studies as well as Native American and Asian courses.

“African Americans and other people of color have contributed to building our country,” the student said. “We want to learn more about what they have done to make our world better.”

Following the community input portion of the School Board meeting, members extended the contract for Interim Superintendent Vasanne Tinsley to June 30. The one-year contract was set to end April 25.

After a year-long search for a new superintendent, Devon Horton was selected as the sole finalist for the position. Horton is superintendent for the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Illinois, a 7,894-student district. DeKalb County Schools has 102,000 students.

The board was expected to meet April 19 to decide whether to hire Horton officially. His proposed start date would come sometime after June 30.

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Cultural Development manager said. “This is a great way to celebrate Dunwoody’s diversity. We’re excited to bring this celebration to the outdoor lawn at Ashford Lane, which is a beautiful new community gathering place.”

Performers will include Atlanta Chinese Dance Company, FASCA Yo-Yo and Lion Dance, Korean Dance Academy, Shaolin Institute, Jathiswara School of Dance and Music, Vietnamese TaiChi 132 Forms and many others.

The event will also feature a demonstration of Japanese floral arrangements and information tables on Thailand, China, Laos, Japan, Taiwan and India.

A full list of performances and more information on the celebration can be found by visiting dunwoodyga.gov and clicking on Arts and Culture and Cultural Heritage Events in the Government tab.