Decatur, GA — The City Schools of Decatur School Board will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 6:30 p.m. for a work session. The meeting will be held in person at the Wilson School Support Center, 125 Electric Ave. in Decatur.

The meeting will also be available virtually through Zoom. To attend the meeting via Zoom, click here.

To view the meeting agenda, click here.

The School Board will meet following the State of the City and State of the Schools address, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. The Decatur Business Association is hosting the event via Zoom. Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett will deliver the State of the City address and School Board Chair Jana Johnson-Davis will give the State of the Schools address.

Registration is required to watch the event. After attendees register, they will receive information on how to access the Zoom meeting. To register, click here.

During the School Board meeting, the board will hear a presentation from the Georgia School Boards Association on how to conduct a superintendent search. Johnson-Davis previously said the School Board is considering partnering with the organization to conduct the search.

The School Board was set to begin the search before the end of the school year, but the board announced on Jan. 19 that it needs more time to hire a permanent replacement for former superintendent David Dude. They agreed to offer Superintendent Maggie Fehrman a one-year contract extension.

“We wanted to take our time and wait for the GSBA presentation to hear their timeline,” Johnson-Davis said. “We didn’t feel confident we had enough time to have someone in place by the beginning of next school year.”

Fehrman took over for Dude in April 2021 after he left the district following months of investigative stories by Decaturish.com that examined allegations raised by the school district’s former human resources director. The School Board gave Fehrman a one-year contract in May 2021. The school board has publicly encouraged Fehrman to apply for the full-time job.

Fehrman’s new contract, which will begin on July 1, gives her a $10,000 raise, from $190,000 to $200,000. She’s also eligible for a retention bonus of $25,000 if she completes the full term of her contract. She can also get a payment of up to $13,333 if she does not use all 15 of her personal leave days.

Additionally, the board will talk about the board’s work plan development including the meeting schedule for 2022-2023, governance team self-assessment results, identify work priorities for the upcoming year, and review the ends policy monitoring reporting schedule. Also on the agenda, the School Board will discuss the fiscal year 2023 school allotment formulas.

Editor Dan Whisenhunt contributed to this article.

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