Schools

Anonymous Letter Accused North Atlanta High Program of Racism

Now, the attorney for former North Atlanta High Principal Mark MyGrant has requested a public hearing from the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education.

North Atlanta High former principal Mark MyGrant suspected that his recent firing had to do with allegations of racism, and a Feb. 6 anonymous letter recently obtained by the Buckhead Reporter shows that several families at the high school accused one high school program of promoting instutional racism.

In the letter, families accused the school's prestigious International Baccalaureate program of giving African-American students lower grades for equal work to white students.

The letter was received by Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Karen Waldon, who sent it to the Atlanta Public Schools Office of Internal Compliance. That office recently began an investigation of alleged grade-changing at the school.

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Officials have not confirmed that the investigation of possible grade-changing is related to the allegations in the letter.

"The letter pressured APS to investigate the IB program," the Reporter article states.

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APS Superintendent Erroll Davis said the firing was due to the school's low graduation rate and its low academic performance of students. MyGrant thinks it may have something to do with two of his recent hires, whom were anonymous accused of being racists, according to news reports.

The letter went on to accuse MyGrant of creating a discriminatory climate. John Denine, the academy IB program director at the school, was singled out in the letter.

APS officials reassigned Denine, along with three other academy leaders not mentioned in the letter, on Oct. 5. Denine had taught at North Atlanta since 1997.

Denine was being considered as a future principal at the school once MyGrant retired, and APS officials interviewed him over the summer, according to the Reporter.

MyGrant's attorney Glenn Delk requested Wednesday a public hearing from the APS Board of Education's ethics commission regarding the school's recent racism allegations.

If the board does not want to grant a public hearing, Delk said MyGrant will accept a written retraction and apology from the Board of Education members and from Superintendent Errol Davis.

Buckhead Patch will update the story once more details become available.


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