In each school district across the country, there are various positions of leadership. In DeKalb County, the superintendent holds the highest role within the district school board. According to AACSB, “[The] superintendent is the chief executive officer, responsible for the overall management of the district, including the administration of schools, the development and implementation of policies and programs, and the management of personnel and resources.”
Every school across the district is dependent on the decisions the superintendent makes, so the person in the position is heavily relied upon. DeKalb County’s former superintendent, Dr. Devon Horton, recently resigned after several financial queries surfaced regarding his prior work in an Illinois school district. According to CBSNews, “A federal grand jury in Chicago indicted Dr. Devon Horton on 17 counts, including wire fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion.”
The DeKalb County Board of Education made the decision to appoint Dr. Norman C. Sauce III as the acting superintendent after receiving Dr. Horton’s resignation. While he is only temporarily in the position, teachers at Chamblee are optimistic upon his arrival. Ms. Iris Staten hoped for positive change relating to her job as a teacher at CHS.
“We need leadership that is going to recognize the true needs of the school. If we have a leader who understands that, then more money can be directed to my students, and perhaps we could also get the benefits that all teachers deserve,” said Ms. Staten.
This decision is especially important and personal for many teachers at CHS because Dr. Sauce was the principal of Chamblee High from 2015-2017. When Dr. Sauce was at Chamblee, teachers found him to be congenial and humble; this attitude didn’t stop once he resigned as principal to take an administrative job in Lamar County and then returned to DeKalb County several years ago. Dr. Kathryn Zuehlke explained her appreciation for Dr. Sauce and his attitude towards teachers.
“Dr. Sauce is very personable. He stopped in my classroom [to see how I was doing] towards the end of last year when he had a high leadership role in the district. It’s nice to have a personal connection [with someone] at the top levels of [county] leadership,” said Dr. Zuehlke.
Ms. Jennifer Tinnell commented on Dr. Sauce’s values and work ethic, which she believes will be beneficial in the superintendent position.
“[Dr. Sauce] is very passionate. He’s a go-getter, and he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do. He’s going to follow through with his good initiatives,” said Ms. Jennifer Tinnell.
The DeKalb County School District commented on Dr. Sauce’s morals and beliefs that he will take into his new role.
“The foundations of Dr. Sauce’s leadership are relationships, receptiveness, and responsiveness,” wrote the DeKalb County School District.
During his time at Chamblee, these characteristics were evident in his approaches to the staff and students.
“When he came to Chamblee, he immediately wanted to start helping every demographic of the population that we teach here at Chamblee,” said Ms. Tinnell. “[He made] sure that our Spanish-speaking students were highly attended to and that we had a better outreach program with those families to make sure that all doors were open for everybody.”
Teachers are hoping for a brighter future for Chamblee and all of DeKalb as Dr. Sauce steps up into his new role as superintendent.
“Working on quality education and continuing to be very visible within the entire school district [is what I would like to see going forward from the superintendent],” said Ms. Tinnell.
Ms. Staten commented on her wishes regarding moving forward with the new superintendent.
“I would just like to see the superintendent be able to do his job,” said Ms. Staten, “and [have a superintendent] who knows the county rather than be someone from the outside.”
