State Continues Hearing For DeKalb School Board

Textbooks have been a focus of this afternoon’s testimony.

An audit conducted by firm KPMG said the DeKalb County school board approved a line of credit the district used to purchase $12 million worth of textbooks. According to the report, those books were never received. In addition, a separate report by the district’s accrediting agency also cited the missing books and said some students were gluing their textbooks together because they didn’t have new ones. 

At an initial hearing before the state board last month, members of the DeKalb board were told to resolve the issue by finding the books. Today, attorneys and state officials followed up. Several witnesses were asked about the issue, including interim superintendent Michael Thurmond. Thurmond said he located the books in two days. Today is his ninth day on the job. That left members of the state board of education to ask the DeKalb board why it couldn’t solve the issue as quickly as Thurmond did.

Perhaps the harshest grilling was saved for DeKalb board member Donna Edler. Edler, a Certified Public Accountant, was told by state officials she should’ve been alarmed by the KPMG report.  This comes after testimony this morning from a state auditor who said the fact that the district is operating at a projected 24 million dollar deficit —is illegal.

The board also heard from Mark Elgart, the head of the district’s accrediting agency. Bob Wilson, an attorney for the DeKalb board, asked Elgart if the report was based on hearsay since no sources were named. Elgart firmly denied that. 

The hearing began at 8 this morning and it’s unclear when it will end. However, the state board of education members has said they’ll stay for as long as it takes.