Key Points:
• DeKalb County parents have formed an online community to publicize issues with the DeKalb County School District.
• Parents at Smoke Rise Elementary in Tucker started the Facebook page “Connecting the Dots” after Superintendent Devon Q. Horton was federally indicted.
• The former superintendent’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 23.
A lack of accountability, transparency and competency has marred DeKalb County School District’s reputation well before the appointment of former superintendent Devon Q. Horton, according to a group of Smoke Rise Elementary parents.
Parents at the Tucker-area elementary school, which is the zoned school for Horton’s children, have created an online community, Connecting the Dots, to shed light on what the parents consider continued missteps by the school system’s board, with the recent federal indictment and resignation of Horton only being a symptom.
Jeannette Fusia, whose daughter attends Smoke Rise Elementary, is one of the organizers of Connecting the Dots, created just days after Horton was indicted on fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion charges. The community has garnered more than 600 followers in less than two weeks.
“There’s a systemic failure in the governance and accountability of that board. This change in leadership is going to be necessary to restore trust to the public,” Fusia told Rough Draft Atlanta. “I know that Deirdre Pierce said that she’s maintaining public trust. Let me be very clear: the public does not trust this district.”
Ashley Johnson, a Smoke Rise Elementary parent, helped start Connecting the Dots, which is named after one of the LLCs mentioned in Horton’s indictment. She once served on Smoke Rise’s principal advisory council.
At Smoke Rise, Johnson said she noticed issues with leadership making accusations of misuse of funds by parents. In a document revealing those accusations, the names of the parents were not redacted, Johnson said. A “third-party” report eventually exonerated those parents.
Though then-principal Pamela McCloud apologized to the council privately for exposing the names of parents who allegedly were misusing money, there was no public apology to the parents or the council regarding the accusations.
Rough Draft Atlanta obtained the apology letter penned by McCloud (pictured below).
McCloud later left Smoke Rise and became DCSD’s director of organizational effectiveness.
Jennifer Caracciolo, DeKalb County Schools interim, chief of community engagement and innovative partnerships, confirmed that McCloud was formerly principal at Smoke Rise.
“As for the allegations, I do not have information to share at this time,” Caracciolo told Rough Draft Atlanta.
“It’s like they just double down on everything, like, just move along, nothing to see,” Johnson said. “Even with this situation [Horton’s resignation], there’s not a, ‘Hey guys, we messed up with this one. We got it wrong here.’ If you’re not willing to do that, if you’re not willing to just say, ‘Hey, our bad, we made a mistake,’ then I don’t feel like you’re equipped to have this job.”
Related story:
• U.S. Attorney issues 17-count indictment alleging DeKalb Superintendent committed fraudulent acts in former job
• ‘Stand with us:’ DeKalb School officials ask for support after federal indictment of superintendent
Beyond her own frustrations at Smoke Rise, Johnson wants the Connecting the Dots movement to bring the focus back on students, not “executive summaries and creating PowerPoints.” DeKalb County currently has 44 schools on the Georgia Promise list, which are schools that are among the lowest-performing 25 percent of Georgia’s public schools.
Lauren Taylor, whose son formerly attended DCSD schools, said she wants the Facebook page to inform parents who are unaware of issues with the current administration, ongoing issues with lawsuits against the district and the revolving door of superintendents. Taylor served on Horton’s Superintendent Advisory Council in 2024, which was one of many instances that led to her losing trust in the district.
“It was pitched as a feel-good engagement story,” said Taylor. “We never asked to be on this panel, but we were handpicked to help Dr. Horton with a broad scope of issues with the district. [Turns out] Horton was profiling us. We were vocal parents. He was trying to contain us.”
The next step for DeKalb schools, in the group’s opinion, is replacing the current school board, Fusia said. With six superintendents in the last 10 years, she and other parents are hoping Horton’s indictment will be the last straw.
“The board has made repeated missteps and this recent situation has kind of forced their hand to select a leader who, I believe and a lot of teachers I believe would agree, generally prioritizes the students, the teachers and the broader community,” Fusia said. “Dr. Sauce – I think he exemplifies these values, and I think he’s highly deserving of the role.”
Several DeKalb County school board members were contacted about the parent response to Horton’s resignation. Whitney McGinnis, DeKalb County school board member for District 2, was the only one who responded with “no comment.”
Horton’s arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23, at the U.S. District Court in Chicago with Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert presiding.