Balanced Scorecard: Open Letter to Michael Thurmond

Mr. Thurmond,

I just looked through the Balanced Scorecard posted on the DCSD website. 

I don't know if you are aware of it, but it is an embarrassment to the district. Over 1/3 of the categories have no score listed. 

Some of the scores are just made up. For example; Average Number of Help Desk calls (tickets) opened per day have these values for Q1-4: 346, 358, 510, 241, which averages to 364. However the reported average is 241. The scorecard also says the district has completed the transition from cash to accrual accounting. This can not be true because the monthly financial report is still being done with the cash accounting method. 

The scorecard posted to show the progress of DeKalb County Schools is not complete and contains factual errors. This is why there is a credibility gap with stakeholders.

When you first got the job of superintendent of schools you stated several times, "Don't judge me by what I say. Judge me by what I do." Sir, by that standard I have to say you are failing. You appear to have fallen under the sway of the very people who led DeKalb County Schools into the abyss. Your promotion of the culture of "friends and family" will not change the direction of the school district.

You failed to implement your 90-Day Plan in a timely manner. The public has yet to see documentation showing any progress at all on goals 4 and 5. In fact, the link to the 90-Day Plan has been removed from the DCSD website. 

Stakeholders want change and your actions are giving us more of the same. From the budget process to the promotion of employees who are not role models, your actions are not what the stakeholders of the school district want. 

I am very disappointed.

Kirk Lunde
Tucker, GA