On Wednesday, Sept. 11, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate hosted a Candidate Forum for the District 2 seat on the Atlanta Board of Education. The forum was held ahead of this Tuesday’s election. Five of the nine candidates took part in the event: Aretta Baldon, Christopher Brown, Keisha Carey, Nathaniel Dyer and Ed Johnson. Antonio Brown, District 3 Councilman for the City of Atlanta, moderated the forum.
Candidates were asked their opinion on what are currently the biggest areas of strength and growth in Atlanta Public Schools, potential ways to partner with the city of Atlanta to increase student enrollment, what role charter and partner schools currently and should play in the district, and what qualities they would like to see in the next APS superintendent.
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, none of the District 2 candidates received more than 50 percent of the votes, which is the percentage needed to avoid a runoff. Aretta Baldon and Davida Huntley were the top vote-getters and will now face off in a runoff scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 15. The seat was previously held Byron Amos.
The District 2 race became even more critical after the Atlanta Board of Education recently announced that it would not extend the contract of Superintendent Meria Carstarphen. The District 2 candidate selected by voters will play an important role in deciding who is selected as the next superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools.
