The Elephant In The Room (Part I)

At least twice during the short tenure of the "new" BOE, Mr. Coleman has asked for specific information about the turnover rate of teachers. The Director of Human Resources, Dr. Ward-Smith, has stated in response that the turnover rate is around 7%. She has also stated there are around 6,500 teachers in the school system.

Using her numbers, there would be approximately 455 teachers who resign each year. 

Tonight I counted the number of teacher resignations from August 11, 2012 August 31, 2013 (approximately). The total is 1,086. 

In August, Mr. Mayfield asked about the churn rate of highly-qualified  and AP certified teachers. Dr. Ward-Smith replied, "I'll have to get back to you with that." After which Interim Superintendent Thurmond jumped in and promised to have that analysis at the September board meeting. 

Like the promised monthly SACS updates, the analysis of teacher resignations was missing from the September BOE meeting. 

I have to question if the HR department is operating in a manner that supports the employees of DeKalb County since it obviously isn't supporting the Board of Education.