El Resigns; 6 Employees Out Amid APS Cheating Scandal

ATLANTA, Ga. - Former board chairman Khaatim Sherrer El shocked many at an Atlanta School Board meeting on Monday night as he tearfully announced his resignation from the board. The news comes on the same day as news came that two principals and four area superintendents were being recommended for termination.

"I just concluded in the end it just shouldn't be this hard to do the right things for kids," El said as he emotionally addressed the meeting. "I failed to protect thousands of children who come from homes like mine. It remains to be seen, no matter how deep this thing goes, whether the soul of Atlanta has been stirred."

In June, El was removed as school board chairman, but he still held a seat on the board. He has accepted a new job to become chief of staff at the Foundation for Newark’s Future in Newark, N.J.

El told FOX 5’s Justin Gray after the announcement that former superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall and other top administrators didn’t listen to waings, and that she even punished whistleblowers.

”When people waived the flag and said there’s something rotten in Denmark, it was those very people who were retaliated against, who were defamed, and quite frankly, their personal and professional reputations were destroyed, El said.

Also on Monday, FOX 5 leaed that two of the 38 principals mentioned in the scathing report on the alleged cheating are being recommended for termination. The four school reform team directors are also recommended for termination amid the scandal, sources within the school system say.

FOX 5’s Aungelique Proctor reports that interim superintendent Erroll Davis, Jr. has recommended termination for Dr. Rebecca Dashiell-Mitchell, who is the principal at Hutchinson Elementary, which is a year-round school. Sources say Keisha Gibbons has been recommended to take over as the new principal. Gibbons is currently an assistant principal at Hutchinson.

At Monday night’s meeting, Davis announced that Emalyn Foreman, principal at Boyd Elementary School, was being recommended for termination, and that Tommy Usher replace her. Usher is currently an assistant principal, and was previously a program administrator at Smith Elementary School.

According to sources within the school system, faculty meetings were held on Monday at both Hutchinson Elementary and Boyd Elementary, but neither of the principals was in attendance. Because the schools are year-round, classes start at both campuses on Wednesday.

Davis said Monday night that he promises that none of the 178 educators named in the cheating report will be allowed in a classroom this fall. He admits that process could take some time.

The four school reform team directors (SRTs) who have been recommended for termination report directly to the superintendent, and the county is divided into four geographic areas comprised of elementary or middle schools. Each area has an SRT.

Those SRTs who are being recommended for termination are:
SRT 1 – Dr. Sharon Davis-Williams
SRT 2 – Michael Pitts
SRT 3 – Robin Hall
SRT 4 – Tamara Cotman

Sources at APS tell FOX 5 the following new appointments will be made for those positions:
SRT 1 – Donnell Underdue
SRT 2 – Danielle Battle
SRT 3 – Betsy Bockman
SRT 4 – David White

The changes are the first to be made by Davis after the results of the CRCT cheating scandal were made public. Sources say the list of those recommended for termination is expected to grow.