A brief chant of ‘keep Dr. Means’ spread through a packed house at the H.T. Edwards Building Saturday afternoon. A group of local African-American leaders held a Crisis in Black Education meeting featuring the embattled Clarke County Superintendent Dr. Demond Means as the keynote speaker.
Means touted gains made by some Clarke County schools under his policies.
“And there’s a lot of good news, we had ten schools increase their CCRPI [College and Career Ready Performance Index] scores this past school year,” according to Means. “Three of the school had an increase of 9.9 or above.”
He said the gap in Clarke County, like the rest of the nation, is a racial gap, not just an achievement gap.
After his presentation, the crowd, which was decidedly pro-Means, asked the superintendent to clarify remarks he made earlier which indicated he was ready to leave. Means said that’s not the case.
“My reaction on November 21st was regretful and it was out of hurt. I made a commitment and if there is anything I can do to mend fences; I’m prepared to it.”
The Clarke County School Board is holding a called meeting Monday afternoon. Members are going into executive session in which they are expected to decide the superintendent’s fate.