In the September issue of the Blue and Gold, a news article by Alan Simpson and an opinion column by JC Boyle became the center of controversy only days after the paper was distributed. The articles, both about DeKalb Superintendent Dr. Johnny Brown, drew criticism from county officials.
According to Brown, he received the pages containing the articles on Friday, September 20, with inaccuracies circled by a staff member. He summoned principal Cheryl Finke, already at the county office, to discuss the articles.
After the meeting, Finke called assistant principal Becky Chambers. According to Blue and Gold adviser Diane Sheare, Chambers relayed the following information: the Blue and Gold were to print a special edition to retract inaccuracies; Brown’s executive assistant Sterling Thomas would speak with the journalism class on Monday, September 23; Brown would meet with the two writers Tuesday, September 24; and Chambers was to take up all unsold papers and place them in a secure location.
However, the county office called Monday morning to say that Thomas would not come to Chamblee, and Brown did not arrive Tuesday.
The first mainstream media coverage came Tuesday, September 24, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published an article on the collection of the papers. It quoted Thomas as saying the conflict was not about the criticism of Dr. Brown, but about accuracy and fairness. She also disputed the use of the word “confiscation” to describe the collection of papers, saying, “We didn’t confiscate papers. We took up papers that hadn’t been distributed yet. There’s a big difference.”
The collection of the papers surprised and angered many students. “I thought he [Brown] would have better things to do,” said junior Yeou-Rong Jih, “than to beat up on a high school paper.”
The media attention continues Wednesday, with an editorial in the Journal-Constitution against the collection of papers, as well as a response from Dr. Brown. Another article in the Dunwoody Crier summarized the situation.
Thursday, September 26, the Journal-Constitution published an interview with Boyle and Simpson. The same morning, the 87 collected papers were returned to the journalism class. Later that morning, Dr. Brown, along with Chief Academic Officer Dr. Abbe Boring and Senior Executive Director Dr. Crawford Lewis, arrived at Chamblee to speak with the journalism class. In the meeting, Brown discussed the inaccuracies in the two articles. Addressing the allegations regarding his management of the Birmingham schools, he described the financial state of the district, citing state-level budget cuts as the cause of a temporary deficit. He went on to explain that critical articles printed in the Birmingham Post-Herald (used as sources in both of the articles in question) were not accurate, calling them, “a deliberate political statement to make me look bad.”
Brown also explained his new initiatives, Dress for Success and High Hopes for High Schools. A brief question and answer session concluded the meeting.