Brown Middle School Principal Promoted to SRT 1 Superintendent

Donell Underdue Jr., principal of Brown Middle School in west Atlanta, is one of four Atlanta Public Schools principals promoted Monday to an area superintendent position, according to statement from APS spokesman Keith Bromery.

At a Monday evening school board meeting, Interim Superintendent Erroll Davis removed all four area superintendents from their posts: Dr. Sharon Davis-Williams, Michael Pitts, Robin Hall and Tamara Cotman.

The superintendents were replaced by Underdue and three other principals:Danielle Battle, principal of King Middle School; Elizabeth Bockman, principal of Inman Middle School, and David White, principal of E. Rivers Elementary School.

Underdue will become the School Reform Team (SRT) 1 Area Superintendent, according to Bromery. SRT 1, which was headed by Davis-Williams, serves schools in the southwest quadrant of the APS system.

In other staff changes, Keisha Gibbons, former assistant principal at Centennial Place Elementary School, replaces Emalyn Foreman as principal at Boyd Elementary School, a district year-round school that begins classes for the new school year Wednesday. Additional personnel actions associated with the state investigation are expected in the next days and weeks, Bromery said.

In other action, Board of Education member and former chair Khaatim Sherrer El resigned his District 2 seat at the meeting. He said that he was resigning to accept an out-of-state position. Board Chair Brenda J. Muhammad congratulated El for his service to the children of Atlanta and participated in a standing ovation for him. 

A special election is set for November to elect a new board member for District 2. Bromery said the Board is expected to elect an interim representative to serve until the election.

The staff changes were the first by Davis in response to a test-cheating scandal that has implicated 178 employees in 44 schools and could result in criminal charges, according to a story by Kristina Torres in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Stay tuned to Cascade Patch for more on how the APS cheating scandal affects the greater southwest Atlanta community.