By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JAN. 10, 2025—- On Jan. 16 at 6 p.m., the Gwinnett School Board will see two newly elected members take their seats. The new members are Rachel Ruffin Stone (District 1), and Steve Gasper (District 3). They join previous members Steven B. Knudsen (District 2), Adrienne Simmons (District 4), and Dr. Tarece Johnson-Morgan (District 5.)
Gwinnettians take pride in their schools, and well they should, since they are constantly ranked among the top, if not the best, school districts in Georgia. Not only that, but in recent years on two occasions, Gwinnett school board has been named the best school district in the nation, even though it is a big, awkward district, consisting of 182,000 students in 142 schools.
In years past, and even today, many newcomers to Gwinnett will tell you that they moved to the county primarily to make sure their children were enrolled in its outstanding schools. The reason Gwinnett schools are constantly ranked high is because it has excellent instructors teaching kids that are from caring families that make sure that their children perform well. The Gwinnett system is also respected because it has had in the past a solidly-founded school board, and exceptional leadership in its administration.
However, since the school board forced the retirement of the long-time and widely-admired Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks, questions have arisen about certain members of the school board. Some members seem intent on delving into the day-to-day administration of the schools, rather than setting overall policy and allowing their chosen administrators to run the operations of the school system.
Gasper
Stone
In 2021, the school board named its new superintendent as Dr. Calvin Watts. He came to Gwinnett after six years as head of the Kent (Wash.) School District. Previously, for 13 years he was a Gwinnett assistant superintendent of school. So, in effect, the board was hiring a locally-known product.
The question now arises at what will be the mode of leadership of the current school board with two new members. Will the board continue to allow its administrators to follow good school practices, and make sure day-to-day operations are guided by the school staff? Or will this current board meddle itself in operations, rather than provide the overall policies of oversight they are elected to do?
Said another way: will the new board seek to force Dr. Watts and staff out of office, after only 3.5 years, and then have to search for a new superintendent? That would be a vastly negative turn of events for Gwinnett County public schools, and make many parents question that direction of the board. We have seen ruinous school board leadership in neighboring counties. Such poor leadership harms the students, the schools and the county.
Gwinnett parents don’t want a mal-functioning school board tearing down the excellent work that has gone on before for years, but want for the schools of the county to continually improve.
Just look at what Gwinnett has recently accomplished. Gwinnett schools continue to be the model system that other boards emulate, because of the high quality results shown by its students. Their test scores and graduation rates are high, and these graduates go on to excel in colleges across the nation.
Yes, Gwinnett citizens are proud of their schools. We urge the new school board to work together so that Gwinnett schools will continue to show their outstanding performance in the coming years.
We look for the school board to go forward harmoniously with solid decisions and continue on the pathway of excellence.
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