DeKalb County School District Superintendent Devon Q. Horton has been criminally indicted on 17 charges by the U.S. Attorney for acts he allegedly committed while serving as the superintendent of Evanston-Skokie School District 65 in Illinois.
After an emergency meeting on Oct. 9, the DCSD board placed Horton on leave and appointed Dr. Norman Sauce, the chief of student services, as the acting superintendent.
The 37-page indictment, according to the Evanston RoundTable, claims Horton, along with three other co-conspirators – Antonio Ross, Samuel Ross, and Alfonzo Lewis – took kickbacks from businesses they owned that were under contract with District 65 and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), without disclosing their involvement or financial stake. The offenses, according to the indictment, occurred between 2020 and 2023.
The newspaper reported that the indictment alleges that each of the men owned businesses that “made materially false and fraudulent representations” to make it appear that Horton did not have a financial stake or involvement in the companies to which he awarded District 65 contracts.
“These representations were made, the indictment says, to conceal the fact that Horton was receiving thousands of dollars in kickbacks from District 65 contracts he awarded to the companies,” the newspaper reported.
The newspaper had also previously reported that Horton had charged moving expenses and a stay at a luxury resort after he had resigned from the 65 District to move to DeKalb. It reported that Horton had paid back a portion of the charges.
According to an announcement by District 65, officials were aware of the ongoing investigation and “fully supported the process.”
“We are deeply troubled and angered by these allegations,” the District 65 statement said. “Now that the federal government has formally indicted, the District is reviewing the specific details of the indictment with the District’s legal counsel. A more detailed statement will be forthcoming after we have had an opportunity to review the details of the indictment.”
The Evanston-Skokie School District 65, according to its website, is “a pre-K through 8th grade public school district serving approximately 6,500 students from the City of Evanston and a small neighboring section of the Village of Skokie.”
DCSD comprises about 92,000 students across 138 schools. It is the third-largest district in the state of Georgia, behind Gwinnett and Cobb County. Horton was hired in 2023 to run the district.
DCSD released a statement on Oct. 9 saying the the district “has been made aware of the federal indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois involving Dr. Devon Horton related to his prior employment.”
“While we cannot comment on confidential personnel matters, we are concerned by these allegations,” DCSD Chairperson Deirdre Pierce said in the statement. “Our top priority remains the well-being of our students, staff, and the entire DCSD community. DCSD operations and services will continue as normal, with our dedicated leadership team and staff remaining focused on providing a safe, supportive, and high-quality educational experience for every student.”
The DCSD profile of Horton on its website described him as a “bold and disruptive leader” who has “consistently demonstrated success in transforming schools and districts into sustainable, high-performing systems that serve all students equitably.”
Horton’s bio said he had served as chief of schools for Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, deputy superintendent for East St. Louis School District 189 in Illinois, as a principal and assistant principal in Chicago Public Schools, and for 10 years as a teacher.
The bio said he earned both his doctorate and master’s degrees in educational leadership from Chicago State University and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Jackson State University.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is known.