OPINION
Mayor: City shining brighter this season ► PAGE 5
Market researchers offer area forecast ► PAGE 15
December 18, 2025 | AppenMedia.com | An Appen Media Group Publication | Ser ving the community since 1976
School Board agrees to proposal naming field after Ryan Seacrest By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY GARDEN CLUB/PROVIDED
More than 450 attendees pack the Dunwoody High School Auditorium Oct. 25 for a talk featuring nationally known ecologist and professor Doug Tallamy, Ph.D., sponsored by the Dunwoody Garden Club.
Garden Club speaker touts importance of native plants By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — The Dunwoody Garden Club sponsored nationally known ecologist, author and professor Doug Tallamy to speak about the importance of native plants and what people can do to help their ecosystem. The free event Oct. 25 in the Dunwoody High School Auditorium was made possible by the Garden Club’s annual Swing into Spring fundraiser. The talk drew more than 450 guests who learned how they can pitch in.
DUNWOODY, Ga. — There is no more speculation surrounding Ryan Seacrest’s involvement in the grassroots campaign to renovate Dunwoody High School’s stadium, coined the “Bring It Home” campaign. As a student at Dunwoody High School, Seacrest auditioned for and earned the opportunity to host the
school’s morning announcements. At just 16, he transformed the daily announcements into a full morning broadcast show, beginning each day with an enthusiastic, “Good morning, Dunwoody!” Ryan was also a member of the football team, which won the 1992 AAAA Regional Championship. Since graduating from Dunwoody High School, Seacrest has become an Emmy-winning television host, radio personality,
The Dunwoody Garden Club says its goal is to encourage healthy environmental stewardship, focusing its October author’s talk on native plants, which feed the insects providing pollination and food to the rest of the ecosystem. Tallamy is an entomologist and professor at the University of Delaware, studying the role insects play in preserving wildlife habitat. His work is credited with transforming humanity’s understanding of the relationship between native plants and wildlife.
mega producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Today, he is one of the most recognized and trusted voices in media. The DeKalb County School Board approved a committee’s recommendation Dec. 8 to name the new high school facility “Seacrest Stadium” in honor of the 1992 graduate.
See FIELD, Page 16
Grand opening Big Play Entertainment, opening at the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in northeast Dunwoody just before the holidays, features 16 bowling lanes next to a full-service restaurant and bar. Read the profile starting on page 14.
See PLANTS, Page 16
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FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of a 34-year -old Sandy Springs man Dec. 10 after seizing more than 400 pounds of suspected marijuana and six firearms. The GBI identified the Sandy Springs man as Travys Davy, charging him with racketeering, marijuana trafficking, possession of a schedule IV drug with intent to distribute and possession of firearm by a felon. On Thursday, Dec. 4, agents and officers executed two search warrants in Atlanta and Sandy Springs, seizing around 6 ounces of suspected alprazolam, or Xanax, in addition to the firearms and marijuana. The Sandy Springs Police Department’s crime dashboard logs the arrest as occurring Dec. 4 at
POLICE BLOTTER All crime reports published by Appen Media Group are compiled from public records. Neither the law enforcement agencies nor Appen Media Group implies any guilt by publishing these names. None of the persons listed has been convicted of the alleged crimes.
Police charge three with drug trafficking DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody police arrested three people staying at the Sonesta hotel off Ridgeview Road Dec. 5 on cocaine trafficking charges after a manager reported the smell of marijuana. The hotel manager told officers she received complaints about third-floor guests smoking, and she wanted them removed from the property if caught. After nobody answered the door, officers said they used a master key to gain entry. Inside, they said they found several rooms empty with a firearm and drug paraphernalia scattered across the living room. Eventually, officers located two people hiding under bed covers and another behind a shower curtain in the bathroom. Officers detained a 21-year-old Tucker woman, who did had no documented criminal history; a 31-year-old Lilburn man, who is a convicted felon with several prior arrests for violent crimes and drug trafficking since 2014; and a 36-year-old Decatur man, who spent more than a year in jail from 2018-2019 for armed robbery and kidnapping. Officers said they transported one of the men to Emory Saint Joseph Hospital in Sandy Springs after he became unresponsive in the living room. The Dunwoody Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit took over at the scene. While the report omits details about
GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION/PROVIDED
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation seized more than 400 pounds of marijuana, six firearms and 6 ounces of Xanax during the execution of two search warrants in Sandy Springs and Atlanta. 7:33 p.m. at 620 Morgan Falls Road, which is the SSPD Headquarters and Municipal Court. A police report is not publicly what was discovered in the hotel room, DeKalb County Jail records show all three individuals were charged with trafficking in cocaine, a felony offense with penalties based on the narcotic’s weight. It is unclear how much cocaine was found in the hotel room. The 31-year-old Lilburn man’s additional charges include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and during the commission of a felony. As of Dec. 10, records show all three remain in jail. — Hayden Sumlin
Three women arrested for theft at retail store DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody police arrested three women Dec. 4 for allegedly shoplifting more than $900 from the Macy’s at Perimeter Mall, citing one of them for obstructing law enforcement. On his way to the scene, an officer said Macy’s employees notified him that one of the suspects was not complying. When confronting the 19-year-old Atlanta woman, the officer said she tried to walk away and ignored commands to stop. The officer said the woman resisted while he tried to detain her. After detaining the other two suspects elsewhere inside the mall, the officer said he brought all three to the Macy’s loss prevention office. The suspects include the 19-yearold Atlanta woman, a 21-year-old East Point woman and a 22-year-old Atlanta woman. The officer said each had at least one bag with stolen merchandise in their possession when detained. The report says the stolen merchandise includes mostly Polo Ralph Lauren shirts, a North Face hoodie, Celebrity Pink jeans and Karl Lagerfeld
available. The GBI said the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office executed the operation with help from the Atlanta Police Department’s Narcotics Unit, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, the Sandy Springs Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The GBI says the operation is the continuation of a lengthy drug investigation into a criminal drug trafficking organization. Records show Davy was booked at Fulton County Jail Dec. 5 for drug trafficking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was bonded out Dec. 6 for $15,000. — Hayden Sumlin Paris pants. All three suspects were charged with felony shoplifting and transported to DeKalb County Jail. The 19-year-old Atlanta woman was also charged with obstructing law enforcement. According to jail records, all three were released Dec. 7. — Hayden Sumlin
Dunwoody Park resident receives empty package DUNWOODY, Ga. — A 38-yearold Dunwoody resident living in an apartment off Dunwoody Park near Chamblee Dunwoody Road reported a mail theft valued at more than $800 Dec. 2. An officer said the victim told him he ordered an iPhone 17 through Xfinity Mobile, valued at $830, and found the device missing from the package when it arrived. The victim said FedEx shipped the iPhone from Tennessee Nov. 24 and it arrived at his apartment Dec. 1 around 3 p.m. When opening the sealed package, the victim said it only contained packaging and the bottom half of the box with the phone charger. The officer said the man tracked down the delivery driver who instructed him to contact the company’s corporate office and Xfinity to report the theft. After chatting, the victim said the delivery driver took the package from him. The officer collected all documentation of the order and provided the victim with a police report. The report does not identify a suspect. — Hayden Sumlin
AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 3
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TALK BACK TO THE CRIER
OPINION
‘Peace by Piece’ is a call to confront antisemitism Antisemitism is one of the oldest hatreds in human history, yet we are seeing it rise again across America and around the world. It appears on college campuses, in our national discourse and sometimes even in our own neighborhoods. For many of our Jewish friends and neighbors, it is not an abstract concept. It is personal, painful and frightening. History teaches us that silence never stops hatred. It only allows it to grow. My own understanding of this long and difficult history began at Marist School when I took Brendan Murphy’s Holocaust class. That class changed me. For the first time, I learned the story of Ecclesia and Synagoga, symbols that for centuries reinforced Christian misunderstanding of Judaism. Seeing the truth of that history opened my eyes to how misconceptions, left unchallenged, can echo across generations. That experience eventually led to one of the most meaningful projects of my life: helping bring Joshua Koffman’s reimagined Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time statue to the Marist campus (see below). In this modern version,
Talk Back to the Crier The Crier is committed to its role as Dunwoody’s community thread. As readers have reminded the paper, part of that role means budgeting premium space for letters from residents. Talk Back to the Crier by Sunday night and your note will be on page 3 that week. Email letters to newsroom@appenmedia.com. The Crier won’t publish it without explicitly getting your approval.
the two figures are no longer divided. They stand as equals, learning from one another and symbolizing the friendship that can form when faith traditions engage with honesty and respect. My commitment to this work deepened when I joined the board of the Bearing Witness Institute, headquartered at Marist. The Institute is devoted to strengthening the relationship between Christians and Jews through education, dialogue, and shared understanding. It brings students, faith leaders and community members together to confront antisemitism, teach truthful history and build durable relationships. Queenie and I are honored to be part of this mission. This journey is also what inspired me to write the song “Peace by Piece.”
The message is simple. Peace is not built all at once. It grows through consistent, caring actions. It takes root when one person chooses to listen rather than accuse, to understand rather than judge, and to reach out rather than pull away. The song is meant to honor the dignity of every person, the power of reconciliation and the belief that repairing the world happens one piece at a time. Antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. It is a human issue. It signals that something is broken in how we see one another. Every time someone stays silent, that brokenness deepens. But every time someone speaks up, every time a student learns real history, and every time a community stands together and
says “not here,” we repair one more piece of the world. Dunwoody is part of one of the largest Jewish population centers in Georgia. Our Scan the QR code to hear the song “Peace by Piece.” city is home to two synagogues and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, reflecting a strong and deeply rooted Jewish presence. We are neighbors, colleagues, friends and fellow citizens. It is our responsibility to stand with one another, to protect one another and to build a community grounded in truth rather than fear. My hope is that “Peace by Piece” encourages dialogue, reflection, and unity. May we continue working together to build understanding, strengthen relationships, and create peace, one piece at a time.
DANNY ROSS
Founding member, Dunwoody City Council
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Integrity wins out over fearmongering Since cityhood, Dunwoody has maintained a tradition of City Council campaigns conducted with integrity and respect for the opposition. On the whole, candidates have fo-
cused on their vision and goals for the city, leaving mud-slinging and negative campaigning to state and federal-level politics. In District 3, this election cycle saw an unseemly type of cam-
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paigning that challenged past norms and introduced a glimpse of what our national politics currently look like: fearmongering, baseless claims, alternative “facts,” and an AI-generated political cartoon mocking the incumbent, Tom Lambert. This was a misstep by the opposition’s campaign, though. Typically, it’s a sign of a healthy electoral system for voters to have a choice at the ballot
box. But that choice becomes invalidated when any of the candidates engage in campaign tactics that distort the truth, demean their opponents or seek to divide neighbors rather than unite them around shared community goals. In the end, District 3 voters made their judgment clear. The incumbent, Tom Lambert, prevailed — running a campaign grounded in honesty, integrity and respect. His victory was more than just a personal win; it was a reaffirmation of Dunwoody’s values and a community-wide rejection of the divisive and deceptive tactics that had entered the race. The outcome served as a reminder that integrity still matters in local politics, and that Dunwoody residents expect their leaders to rise above negativity and focus on solutions. In choosing decency over distortion, the voters sent a message: our city’s future will be shaped not by those who seek to tear others down, but by those who choose to lead with respect and truth.
ERIKA HARRIS Dunwoody
OPINION
AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 5
GUEST COLUMN
Holiday displays glow brighter than ever This year, the holiday season is shining brighter than ever in Dunwoody. Our streets are sparkling, our homes are glowing, and our commercial LYNN DEUTSCH Dunwoody Mayor districts are truly dazzling. From Ravinia and Dunwoody Village to High Street, Park Place and Ashford Lane, our commercial partners have outdone themselves with festive displays that light up the entire community. And of course, the holiday lights at Brook Run Park are out of this world. It is bigger, brighter and more magical than ever. This year’s theme, Cosmic Wonderland, is my favorite ever. It really stands apart from other displays. Because it’s free, you can stop by often throughout the holidays, like I do. For years, I’ve had a vision of doing more with the holidays in Dunwoody. I wanted to add more lights, as
we’ve done with lighted snowflakes on streetlights in Dunwoody Village and Georgetown. I also wanted to highlight all the festive things that our businesses and nonprofits do every year. Holiday Headquarters is our way of bringing everything together with an easy-to-access website: www. holidayheadquarters.com. High Street is really making its mark this year with outdoor ice skating. The rink is surrounded by beautiful decorations and fabulous restaurants. Here, you can pop into Dunwoody’s first Christmas Pop-up Bar at Agave Bandido. Elves have turned Agave’s hidden bar, Maya Speak Tiki, into the Reindeer Room with tinsel, lights and inflatables hanging from the ceiling. I hope you’ll make time throughout the season to enjoy beautiful displays, support our local businesses, and share the joy with your friends, neighbors and family. There’s something special waiting around every corner in Dunwoody, and we’re thrilled to celebrate this season with you.
DEAN HESSE/APPEN MEDIA
Brook Run Park is lit up during opening night of Holiday Lights Dec. 2.
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6 | December 18, 2025 | Dunwoody Crier | AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody
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OPINION
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TALK BACK TO THE CRIER
IN TIMES OF CHANGE
Being mired in the past Experience Matters is a bad path for the city So, if I understand Danny Ross correctly: • The 18-year-old city “structure” should remain frozen in time, even though Dunwoody has evolved (and will continue to evolve) as the city continues to steadily grow? • An “unelected” assistant city manager handling financial briefings and communications is an improper distribution of workload, and somehow this removes responsibility from the city manager? I too think the Old Hickory House should still be open – and not another bank – and we should still have trees in the middle of Dunwoody Village Parkway. However, I wouldn’t want to go back to the outdated infrastructure and lack of
control over our neighborhood before incorporation, either. I think “we” got just what we wanted: “a government that reflects our communities’ values.” It’s just that our values are no longer fixed to a time before a housing crash and recession, multiple years of ongoing economic challenges, Covid-19, and a 10%+ population growth since 2010. Is accountability important? More than ever. Is everything perfect in Dunwoody? Of course not (don’t get me started on the bike lanes), but the City Council just passed a balanced budget, so it isn’t all bad, either. We need to continue looking to the future, not the past.
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PAST TENSE
OPINION
Area residents recall memorable Christmases Larkin Head’s grandparents, Roy and Pamela Head, once owned acreage on both sides of Chamblee Dunwoody Road. One year, Larkin’s parents bought a piano for Christmas. He remembers, “…in the mad rush to get to our presents under the tree, the piano was overlooked.” His mother VALERIE BIGGERSTAFF asked if there was something the children were not seeing. Columnist Larkin’s grandmother taught all the granddaughters how to play the piano. Fred Donaldson, friend and neighbor from down the road, shared memories of singing by the piano along with Larkin’s Uncle Bill. Grandmother Head played the piano and instructed the boys to sing. Chris Curth of Sandy Springs remembers participating in the annual Christmas play at Annie Houze Cook Kindergarten. The kindergarten was in Providence Methodist Church, now Misty Creek Community Church. Curth recalls he “…was one of the wise men, and as we walked down the aisle in our costumes we sang “We Three Kings.” He has fond memories of Annie Houze Cook. Jean Fallon shared her 1996 Olympics experience with me several years ago. She hosted the North Korean delegation at her home. Later, she shared memories of December 1941 when the U.S. entered World War II. “I was 10 years old and concerned that my daddy
would have to become a soldier but was relieved to hear he had been too young for WW1 and was too old for WWII,” she said. Fallon recalled the shortages of food that went along with rationing. The family used a new “fake butter” product called Nucoa. She remembered gasoline shortages and not being able to participate in her school play because her family could not use the gas to drive three miles to school for play rehearsals. There was also a lot of vegetable soup served in the school cafeteria. “But the sacrifices were shared by all, and we got through it together,” said Fallon. Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tom Keating, who has collaborated with me on Lawson General Hospital history, shared his favorite Christmas memory. “It was an uneventful tour as hospital duty officer during Christmas 1975 at Womack Army Hospital, Fort Bragg, N.C.,” he said. “I was standing at my duty station adjoining the busy Emergency Department when 1st Lt. Carolyn Kraft, a very pretty army nurse, suddenly appeared. Fifty years later, she is still with me. I am so blessed.” The couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2026. Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.
LARKIN HEAD/PROVIDED
Larkin Head and big sister Pam in 1951 in the yard of their grandmother’s home on Chamblee Dunwoody Road.
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Puzzles
Dunwoody Crier 12/18/25 Connect-It
Connect-It
Copyright ©2025 PuzzleJunction.com
Dunwoody Crier.........................................December 18, 2025 | 10 Dunwoody Crier 12/18/25 Crossword
Across
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1 “Woe is me!” 5 Stately trees 9 Flu source 13 Supermarket section 14 Navy commando 15 Cake topper 16 Carbon compound 17 Pseudonym of H. H. Munro 18 Poet’s “below” 19 Peddle 21 Chooses 23 Bygone bird 24 Kind of welder 27 Country club figure 28 Thick spicy stew 31 Aquarium denizen 32 Engine part 35 Abysmal test score 36 Debt instrument 38 Dodge 40 Jessica of Sin City 41 Bone china name 43 Hubbubs 44 Nero’s instrument 46 Hibernia 47 Twins, e.g. (Abbr.) 48 Cambodian coin 49 Round Table title 51 Allergic reaction 53 Bake sale org. 54 Scoundrel 55 Card game for two 58 Goes bad
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1. Sheik’s bevy. Small songbird. Catchall abbreviation. 2. Pickle choice. Aerospace acronym. Wine bottle size. 3. Stock exchange abbreviation. Daybreak. Give up. 4. Alpha’s opposite. Mishmash. Treaty acronym. 5. UN acronym. Make believe. Know-it-all. 6. California wine valley. Director’s cry. Weather abbreviation. 7. Smell bad. Weather acronym. Dislike to the max. PuzzleJunction.com
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Copyright ©2025 PuzzleJunction.com
1 Citrus drink 2 Lorgnette part 3 Cream additive 4 Window ledge 5 Double curve
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Dunwoody Crier 12/18/25 Sudoku 7
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
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60 Jai ___ 64 Stood up 66 Gossip tidbit 69 Chances 71 Not quite right 72 Lyra’s brightest star 73 Big party 74 Brain wave 75 Heroic poem 76 Old World duck
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Each line in the puzzle below has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 5, 5 and 4 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!
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PuzzleJunction.com
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PuzzleJunction.com
6 Grassland 7 Ocean menace 8 Spinal vertebrae rupture 9 Air hero 10 Thailand, once 11 Division word 12 Turkish official 15 Boot part 20 Fall behind 22 Three (Ital.) 25 Holds up 26 Helpful 28 Contradict 29 Type of renewal 30 Stable color 32 Gulf of ___, Spain 33 Hacienda brick 34 Military meal
35 Nukes 37 ___’easter 39 Bud holder 42 Sicilian resort 45 Fish hawk 50 “What was ___ do?” 52 Writer LeShan 55 Dry riverbed 56 Desiccated 57 Lasso 59 Aerobic bit 61 Records 62 Comic Sandler 63 Loafing 65 Hot springs 67 Conceit 68 More, in Madrid 70 Toothed tool
Acronyms & Abbreviations How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each 1. Sheik’s bevy. Small songbird. Catchall abbr. answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues solve the Sudoku column forTothe 3 answers on the puzzle, line. But each here’srow, the catch! Theand clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually 2. Pickle choice. Aerospace acronym. Wine bottle size. contain the numbers to line. 9. Got it? Good luck! bebox for must the second or third answer in 1that 3. Stock exchange abbr. Daybreak. Give up. 4. Alpha’s opposite. Mishmash. Treaty acronym.
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5. UN acronym. Make believe, Know-it-all.
3 7. Smell bad. Weather acronym. Dislike to the max. 7 1 8 9 9 1 4 2 3 6 1 2 6 9 5 5 3 9 8 How to Solve: Kakuro, also known as Cross Sums, is a challenging number puzzle, solved in a crossword style grid. 7 3 The rules are easy: A number above the diagonal line in a 8 4
6. California wine valley. Director’s cry. Weather abbr.
Copyright ©2025 PuzzleJunction.com
See puzzle solutions on Page 23
How to Solve: To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
black square is the sum of the white squares to the right of it. A number below the diagonal line is the sum of the white squares in the sequence below it. You may only use the digits 1 to 9, and a digit can only be used once in any sequence.
Is Your Company Hiring? Solution
9 1 7 6 2 4 8 3 5
3 8 2 7 5 1 4 9 6
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7 6 4 5 1 2 9 8 3
2 9 1 8 3 7 5 6 4
8 5 3 9 4 6 1 7 2
5 3 8 2 6 9 7 4 1
4 2 9 1 7 3 6 5 8
1 7 6 4 8 5 3 2 9
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OPINION
AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 11
Two ideas for reforming the DeKalb School Board Dear readers, DeKalb County Schools has hired seven superintendents in the 12 years after Gov. Nathan Deal removed most of the board when the district’s DAN WHISENHUNT accreditation was at Editor dan@appenmedia.com risk. Gov. Deal’s intervention clearly did little to change the board’s dysfunctional trajectory. Even though the names on the dais may change, the structural issues that perpetuate that dysfunction remain. Those issues have led to poor choices by our board. Our most recent superintendent was indicted, but allegations of unethical conduct at his previous job had been swirling before he began working for the DeKalb County School District. It was the kind of behavior bound to catch up with him sooner or later, and it did. Everyone who was not on the school board and paying attention saw something like that coming. The school board has now named
Norman Sauce the district’s interim superintendent, but the board’s track record indicates Sauce won’t have the job for longer than a few years, at most. The DeKalb County Board of Education is a government agency in dire need of reform, and our legislative delegation must act. That will not be easy. The schools are a mess, and most of our political leaders would rather stay out of it. But sooner or later, this board’s silliness will invite takeover by the state, and that is not a guarantee of a better outcome for our students. As the delegation considers ways to bring more stability to our district, two proposals should be on the table: reducing the number of districts while creating at-large board chair and vice chair positions and moving the non-partisan school board elections to November. The way the board is currently constituted invites turf battles, and holding elections during partisan primaries relegates them to an afterthought on the ballot. At its core, the board is a legislative body that sets policy for the school system, and its members, at times, act like junior legislators. They sometimes struggle
to look at the big picture. While the current board has done a better job than previous boards at considering the needs of all schools, the board's structure provides incentives for members to focus on the insular interests of their districts. We saw this dynamic at work in the battle over the renovation of Druid Hills High. Everyone agreed that the school needs to be updated. That was obvious. The issue, for some on the board, was the perception that those upgrades were coming at the expense of other schools in the district. This is not the best way to implement a district facilities maintenance plan, which should be based solely on need. A vote of the entire board determines the role of board chair and vice chair. The chair serves many vital functions and serves as the public face of the board. They preside over meetings, sign official documents, and can call meetings as needed. The vice chair acts in the board chair’s absence. Votes for these important roles are lined up behind the scenes, which is all perfectly legal, in case you were wondering. What is agreed to when the votes are arranged, we will never know.
I think it’s time the legislature removed political backroom dealing from the equation and changed the structure of our government to include a board chair and vice chair elected at-large to four year terms. Two at-large positions would be needed to maintain the odd number of board members necessary to avoid tie votes without expanding the board. This would mean reconfiguring and enlarging the current board districts to ensure equal representation. In 2014, amidst the district’s accreditation drama, the Legislature reduced the number of school board districts from nine to seven, eliminating the two at-large seats in the process. At the time, the removal of at-large seats was criticized as an attempt to strip Black school board members of authority. In recent years, when Decaturish has proposed at-large district seats, critics have argued they would dilute Black voting power on the board. The only consistent theme is the same argument this county has been having for decades about the racial makeup of the school board.
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BUSINESS
Big Play opens just in time for holiday break By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — Brandon and Ray Wooldridge, the father and son who own Big Play Entertainment Atlanta, picked a spot in Dunwoody after a tornado demolished the family’s business outside of Nashville. Like the City of Dunwoody itself, the Wooldridge family knows how to bounce back from the destruction of high-speed winds. A little more than 24 hours before its 5 p.m. grand opening Dec. 11, Brandon Wooldridge announced Big Play Entertainment cleared its last hurdle, passing a grease-trap inspection from DeKalb County Watershed Management. Brandon Wooldridge is the general manager of Big Play Entertainment, spending the past couple of weeks training his staff of around 30 employees. “We thought we were going to open this summer,” Wooldridge said. “Because of knocking down walls and dealing with older buildings, we ran into all kinds of different delays and problems.” Big Play Entertainment resembles entertainment centers like Main Event in Alpharetta, Cobb County and Suwanee. Its 44,000-square-foot space within the Mount Vernon Shopping Center has 16 bowling lanes, a 24-person laser tag arena, an’80s themed mini-golf course and some 80 arcade games. There’s been a lot of chatter about Big Play Entertainment in the Dunwoody community and on social media. Matt Weber interviewed Valerie Inglesby, who is handling property management of the shopping center, on the What’s Up Dunwoody podcast a few days before the grand opening. Inglesby confirmed the CVS Pharmacy renewed its lease and will be staying. Wooldridge also addressed another controversy. He said a parking agreement with Crema Espresso Gourmet went through a couple of iterations but taking on liability didn’t make sense for his business. He said it’s possible the two businesses forge an agreement next year. Family business picks Dunwoody The Wooldridge family is from Sandy Springs. The library and academic center at the Marist School, a private K-12 Catholic school in Brookhaven, is named after longtime benefactor Raymond Wooldridge. The family gives discretely to other nonprofits, including the Northside Youth Organization at Chastain Park.
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Big Play Entertainment Atlanta, anchoring the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in northeast Dunwoody, has 16 bowling lanes, 80 arcade games, laser tag, mini golf and full-service dining. After months of renovations and some delays, Big Play Entertainment held its grand opening Dec. 11. Brandon Wooldridge, a Lovett School graduate, is back in Metro Atlanta after a couple of decades on the Gulf Coast. “I started Big Play with my dad in 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi,” Brandon Wooldridge said. “It started just as a mini-golf course, and over the years we added on go-carts, bumper cars, arcade and eventually in 2016, built the bowling alley there with a restaurant and bar.” The Biloxi venue has grown into a popular beachside tourist destination. Wooldridge said northeast Dunwoody’s new entertainment center won’t have bumper cars but will still feature other attractions at the company’s flagship. After the tornado destroyed the Hendersonville, Tennessee, location in 2023, he said the family took a couple of months to see how the insurance situation played out. “We’ve been trying to get back here,” he said. “We had a deal during COVID to come back, then prices went through the roof, and everything got crazy.” Brandon Wooldrige said the family business purchased the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in February from Branch Properties, including all three parcels rezoned by the city in January. The previous owner spent fall 2024 working on a rezoning of three parcels, forming a triangle at Jett Ferry Road and Dunwoody Club Drive, necessary for an entertainment center. “My dad has been getting his hair
cut next door [at Dunwoody Hair Co.] for 30 years and kept seeing the space was sitting here and a few things had failed,” Wooldridge said. Just 18 months ago, the shopping center was struggling with a quarter of its commercial space vacant after a revolving door of grocery stores at 2480 Mount Vernon Road failed. Big Blay Entertainment closed on the purchase of the Mount Vernon Shopping Center in February for an undisclosed amount. As of early December, DeKalb County property tax records online have not been updated to record the transaction, or the shopping center’s trading price. Brandon Wooldridge declined to say how much the family business paid but said “a sizable investment, a lot of money.” He described expensive improvements to conform the building to updated codes, on top of security cameras and improvements to the parking lot and pedestrian safety. What patrons can expect Big Play has transformed the former Lidl grocery store site into the city’s only entertainment center, offering hours of bowling, arcade games, mini golf and laser tag. “We’re priced competitively with the market,” Wooldridge said. “We’ve got to make money, but we do have what we call our Happy Days specials, trying to make it more accessible, especially
during the week.” There are bargains for patrons Sunday through Friday, offering half off food and beverage, a free kid’s meal, “buy one, get one free” deals or family bundles, depending on the day. Besides offering enough games and activities to fill an afternoon, Big Play has Woody’s, a full-service restaurant, bar and private event space. The entertainment center bills itself as a community hangout where residents can schedule a kid’s birthday party, corporate team building activity or night out with friends. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Wooldridge said he’s grateful for an outpouring of support from the community of the family business’s new location. “We’re not a kiddie, kiddie place, but we are an entertainment center that is just very family friendly,” he said. “We use bowling as the anchor attraction because it’s the number one participatory sport in America.” Wooldridge said most people just wanted to know when Big Play would open. “I would not feel good if I was a grocery store coming into this space,” he said. “We never planned to open the week before Christmas break. It’s about to be our busiest two weeks of the year.” To learn more, visit bigplayatl.com.
NEWS
AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 15
Regional housing experts offer pointers for homebuyers By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com METRO ATLANTA — MarketNsight’s latest peek into the housing industry Dec. 11 indicates troubled times for some areas of the country as home prices continue to outpace purchasing power. The update, delivered twice annually, is geared to help clients navigate a shifting market, discussing the relationship between declining interest rates and affordability. The business is centered around providing real-time data, expert forecasts and strategic insights to homebuilders, developers and other real estate professionals. The firm is unique in the industry for tracking pending sales and inventory trends every week across several U.S. markets. To open the program, the company paid tribute to its former CEO and cofounder John Hunt, who passed away in late July. Michelle Hunt, John’s wife, company co-founder and former chief operating officer, transitioned to CEO of MarketNsight. “Since the beginning of the MarketNsight, John noticed this trend in affordability, and he predicted the current housing affordability crisis,” she said. “He could see this coming way down the road. This is how he said it during our last MarketWatch and it’s even more true today … it’s an indisputable fact that we have a housing shortage of epic proportions in this country.” Michelle shared some of John’s routine advice for prospective homebuyers: drive until you qualify. For homebuilders looking to create an attainable product: consider reducing square footage. In its September update to clients, MarketNsight reported that some of its metro-based markets increased their housing supply to six months, a metric indicating how long it would take to sell all homes on the market at their current listing price. Increased supply puts downward pressure on prices. “Younger buyers continue to depend on their savings, or inherit, for their down payment, while older buyers use proceeds from the sale of their previous residence,” Hunt said. “Median age is 40 for first-time homebuyers. Also, the median age for all buyers is 59 years. That changes our perspective on who the first-time home buyer is.” Economist forecasts Fed moves Rajeev Dhawan, Ph.D., director at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business
said, will do little to improve housing affordability for the middle class, later offering a way to help. “Can the housing market be helped?” he said. “Cutting the interest rates will not bring down the mortgage rates forever. They will start going back up. At 6 percent, very few people can refinance.”
GSU ECONOMIC FORECASTING CENTER/PROVIDED
Graph from the Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center shows the relationship between job growth and tax collections. at Georgia State University, provided his insights. “The forecast is for aggressive rate cuts,” Dhawan said, predicting cuts totaling 150 basis points in the first half of 2026. “They need to get done now.” The day before, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point or 25 basis points to 3.50 percent to 3.75 percent, marking a third consecutive cut to combat a weakening job market. Dhawan said he expected the move while other economists expected a more hawkish decision to tighten monetary policy and control inflation, which is hovering around 3 percent. “The economy is much weaker than what you think in terms of spending power,” Dhawan said. “The first six to nine months of next year will be very crucial in how the Fed moves. My forecast is they will be aggressive because they are going to get … a dump of data between now and the end of the year.” Dhawan titled his MarketWatch presentation, “Outlook in an Era of Shutdown-Induced Lack of Official Data.” Because the federal government’s record 43-day shutdown in the fall, Dhawan said he is using “soft data,” like state tax collections. He also mentioned several news headlines over the past few months, announcing thousands of corporate layoffs.
Because of the white-collar layoffs and tightening job market, there are fewer potential homebuyers out there. Dhawan said the data shows Social Security collections have grown weaker since the start of 2025. “In the third quarter, the collections were negative,” he said. “So even though the jobs data will be delayed, this thing was clearly telling me, just like 20 years ago, that the economy is much weaker than what the official numbers imply.” The Fed’s recent rate cut, Dhawan
A path to affordability Freddie Mac, which issues and guarantees mortgage-backed securities in support of the U.S. housing market, reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate averaged 6.22 percent Dec. 11. That’s up from the first week of December when it averaged 6.19 percent. A year ago, the 30-year rate averaged 6.60 percent. “So, what can help them?” Dhawan said. “[Mortgage rates were super high last year and are beginning to come down, but it's not as low as the boom we saw after COVID, when the Federal Reserve was buying the mortgage-backed securities with both hands.” When first-time homebuyers are looking to purchase a family home, they often don’t have enough cash and borrow money from a bank, called a mortgage. If there aren’t enough people buying homes, the Federal Reserve can purchase mortgage-backed securities from banks to give the financial institutions more cash to lend homebuyers. That eventually lowers mortgage rates. “[The Fed] should buy mortgagebacked securities,” Dhawan said. “That will bring that mortgage premium number that is running about 200 basis point down to 50, and there you have your mortgage rates below 5.5 or 5 percent, easily.”
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Field: Continued from Page 1 The “Bring It Home: One Family, One Field” campaign ramped up in August after the School Board approved an item allowing the Dunwoody community to privately fund and build additional seating and associated structures necessary to host high school varsity football games. In late November, committee member Catherine Mootz said the campaign had an alumnus committed to donating a large lump sum, rumored to be around $1 million, separate from the community fundraiser. “Ryan Seacrest and his parents, Gary and Connie, worked steadfastly for more than 20 years with members of the community to help make this stadium a reality,” Mootz wrote in her announcement. “The new Seacrest Stadium will give Dunwoody something it has never truly had — a home field
Plants: Continued from Page 1 Tallamy focused much of his talk on his books, “Bringing Home Nature: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens” (2007) and “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard” (2020). Dunwoody Garden Club President Patsy Newton called the author’s talk a huge success, with some guests arriving 90 minutes early. In the hallway outside the auditorium, representatives from the Georgia Native Plant Society, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Monarchs Across Georgia, the Chattahoochee Nature Center and the Dunwoody Nature Center sat at tables to share helpful tidbits with guests. The presentation covered three types of plants, contributors or native plants that support local food webs, non-contributors that provide little to native species and distractors or invasive plants, which degrade food webs.
ROI
matters.
NEWS
worthy of its pride and tradition.” The new Seacrest Stadium will give the Dunwoody Wildcats a venue capable of hosting Friday Night Lights and other large gatherings. With 2,000 additional seats, improved accessibility and a modern press box, the Dunwoody High community will finally be able to gather to cheer, celebrate and connect without leaving town Seacrest now hosts and produces the top ranked Los Angeles morning drive-time show for iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS-FM, as well as the internationally syndicated “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” and “American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest.” Last fall, he took the reins of “Wheel of Fortune,” ushering in a new era of the beloved game show. Seacrest Stadium is not in the bag. Campaign organizers say they need to raise $1.5 million from the community and are about a fifth of the way there. For more information regarding plans for Seacrest Stadium, visit bringithomedunwoody.com. Tallamy proposed eliminating invasive plants instead of all nonnative species, reducing lawn areas that contribute little to the ecosystem and seeking out alternatives found in the natural environment. Key takeaways from Tallamy’s presentation include: • Bird populations have decreased significantly over the past 50 years, partly due to a decrease in their food sources. It takes 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to feed one clutch of baby chickadees. Caterpillars are found on native plants and trees. If there are not enough native plants, there isn’t enough food for the birds. • Many insects, including caterpillars, spend winter in the soil and in leaf litter. To preserve their wintertime habitat, property owners are encouraged to leave leaf litter under the trees and in mulch areas over the winter. • Planting the right native species is important. Just 14 percent of native plants make 90 percent of caterpillar food driving food webs. Some examples are oaks, native cherries, native maples, poplars, goldenrod and helianthus. Some oak trees support 557 species of caterpillars in the mid-
BRING IT HOME DUNWOODY/PROVIDED
The DeKalb County School Board approved “Seacrest Stadium” as the name of Dunwoody High School’s soon-to-be-renovated athletic complex at its Dec. 8 meeting. The “Bring It Home” campaign needs to fundraise $1.5 million from the community to match Seacrest’s roughly $1 million pledge.
FRED TUCK/PROVIDED
Doug Tallamy, Ph.D., a nationally recognized ecologist and entomologist, discusses ways native plant species and insects contribute to the health of a natural habitat Oct. 25 during an author’s talk at Dunwoody High School. Atlantic states. • Light pollution reduces insect populations by disrupting circadian
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rhythms, foraging, mating and reproduction. Instead of leaving those front porch lights on all night, consider switching to motion sensor lights or yellow light bulbs. Yellow light is less visible and less appealing to most bugs compared to bright white or cool-toned lights, which mimic moonlight and draw insects in for navigation. • Mosquito spraying is deadly to all insects. A recent study found that 30 days after a spraying, dozens of butterflies died when exposed to the material. Any spray designed to kill mosquitos also kills other insects. Use mosquito bait traps (water with mosquito dunks), fans and deet on your exposed areas. The Dunwoody Garden Club has had many sponsors over the years, including the local Ace Hardware, Barbree and Co., Home Instead, Phoenix Senior Living, Dunwoody Dental Care and the City of Dunwoody, its most recent. The next fundraiser will be April 10, 2026. More details will be available on the club website in late January or early February at dunwoodygardenclub.com.
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COMMUNITY
Centennial High senior marches in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade By HANNAH YAHNE hannah@appenmedia.com ROSWELL, Ga. — It was 3 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning when Centennial High School senior Madeline Hazelwood boarded a bus in freezing cold for a final rehearsal before performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Being part of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band was a surreal experience for Hazelwood. She was one of six students from Georgia and the only one from Centennial High School. Hazelwood’s journey in color guard started her sophomore year after she was inspired by Friday morning pep rallies and halftime performances. “Starting out, it was really challenging,” Hazelwood said, “I had no idea what I was doing, but I thought, ‘Why not go ahead and challenge myself?’” Her hard work paid off when she was selected as captain of the high school’s color guard team in her junior year, a title she retained as a senior.
PHOTOS PROVIDED
Madeline Hazelwood, a senior at Centennial High School, holds the flag for the Macy’s Great All American Marching Band. Hazelwood was part of a group from across the country to participate in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. “I tried really hard to learn everything before everyone else, because I know that I can’t lead until I
In Memoriam
Catherine Sareeram
January 27, 1942 – November 30, 2025
Catherine M. Sareeram (27 Jan 1942 - 30 Nov 2025), nee Glancey, beloved mother and retired nurse, died suddenly from hypertensive cardiac failure. From the very start, she was destined for an interesting life. Her mother gave birth to her by flashlight during the first blackout in Philadelphia during World War II. As a child, Cathy mastered mischief with her pals on S. 65th Street but always made it home to peel the potatoes for dinner. She worked for the telephone company before entering Misericordia Hospital Nursing School. After graduation, she was working in the ER at Philadelphia General when she and the doctors were held up at gunpoint. Being a tiny thing, she slipped away and called the police. The next day, while telling her girlfriend how frightened she was, she spied a Navy recruiting poster in a window: Nurses Needed in Vietnam. She joined the Navy on the spot. Instead of Vietnam, she was sent to Naples, Italy, where she rose to the rank of Lieutenant and met her husband Ray, another naval officer. He was immediately enamored. After two
proposals, she accepted his third. Together, they raised three children, traveled the world, and raised more pets than could be counted - cats, dogs, sheep, gerbils, rabbits, and one grumpy bird. Life as a Navy wife suited her independent spirit. She could fix almost anything in the house and usually had the best garden on the block. As a proud veteran, she helped raise funds for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. As a devout Catholic, she rarely missed mass. She never lost her love of telling a tall tale or finding the silly in a situation. She loved being a mother and a grandmother, a friend and colleague, playing pinochle and golf, and enjoying a margarita. She practiced many types of medicine, emergency, psychiatric, neonatal, geriatric, and “being the school nurse” at the Patent and Trademark Office. Even through dementia, she held to her life motto, “I don’t want to be like anybody else,” and she wasn’t. She is survived by her brother Bill, her children Catherine (Conrad), Thomas (Amy), and Stephanie (Steven), and her grandchildren Brynn (Ryan), Cade, and Anna.
know what I’m doing,” she said. That ambition led Hazelwood to submit an audition video for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, showcasing drop spins and her marching ability. She found out in April she would be marching through Manhattan on Thanksgiving morning. Alongside 245 fellow high school students, Hazelwood performed “Joy to the World” to an estimated 3.5 million people. She greeted onlookers throughout the performance and snuck a wave to her best friend who was there to support her.
The 2.5-mile-long parade route ended with another performance in Herald Square. “It was amazing to see people very excited about the marching and be really loud the entire time,” Hazelwood said. She said it was nice to have the experience performing in a large band, because the color guard program at Centennial High School is small with around 10 people participating each season. Hazelwood made fast friends with her bandmates while singing on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visiting the Empire State Building. They also visited Times Square and saw “Six” on Broadway. “We were all able to meet … and we were all best friends,” Hazelwood said. “We were kind of like a family.” As a keepsake, Hazelwood took home a drum head signed by members of the band. “It was really cool to take home,” she said. “It was like I was taking a piece of the family home with me.” Color guard gave Hazelwood a family when she needed it most, whether during training camps, at Centennial High School or in New York. “It gave me a group that taught me how to be better,” Hazelwood said. “We have a similar passion as one another, and it became a little family because we all had something in common.” Hazelwood will continue in color guard at the University of South Alabama while in pursuit of becoming a meteorologist.
Madeline Hazelwood, center, visits Times Square with bandmates while in New York City the week of Thanksgiving.
AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 19
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SERVICE DIRECTORY Landscaping
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Full-time Graphic Designer. Norcross, GA. Create original dsgn graphics, illustrations & layouts for print &/or digital use using Adobe Creative Suite, CorelDRAW, Canva, & AutoCAD; Coord w/ printer vendors & oversee timely delivery of printed mat’ls; Dsgn & create seasonal thematic visual pieces suitable for large scale printing & displaying across physical premises; Dsgn original graphics for social media platforms; Ensure uniformity & consistent visual style across all dsgn’d mat’ls; Work closely w/ caregivers, educators & admin staff to ensure creative dsgn mat’ls align w/ current care plans & int event scheds. $39,458/yr. Req Bachelor’s in Graphic Design &/or rltd field. Send resume to: King David Community Center of Atlanta, Inc., 5054 Singleton Rd, Norcross, GA 30093. HVAC Mechanics Technician. Divine Favor LLC, Duluth, GA. Install, maint, & repair HVACR systs. Install electrical components & wiring. Inspect & test HVACR systs & components. Discuss syst malfunctions w/ custs. Repair or replace worn or defective parts. Recomm maint to improve syst performance. Keep rcrds of wrk perf’d. Req Bachelor’s in Instrumentation Technician/ HVAC Heating, Air Conditioning, & Refrigeration Mechanics & Installers & 2 yrs exp as Heating, Air Conditioning, & Refrigeration Mechanics & Installers. $67,288/yr. Send resume to: divinefavorakinboro@gmail.com.
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Reform:
OPINION
Continued from Page 11 With respect, an acknowledgement of my own privilege and a recognition that racism is unfortunately not dead, I think it is time we moved past this way of thinking about the governance of our schools. We are a majorityminority, heavily Democratic county. I trust the voters of this county to elect school board representatives who will treat everyone fairly. More importantly, I trust them to remove school board members who don’t. The idea of an at-large board chair is not novel. The Cherokee County Board of Education elects its chair this way, and the Paulding County Board of Education has an at-large seat, too. The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System has a board president, who is elected atlarge. There are other examples our school district could emulate. By adding two at-large members, the county school board structure would mirror that of the DeKalb County Commission, which is also a seven-member body with two at-large “super district” seats. This ensures every county resident has at least two representatives on the commission. In addition to providing additional representation, two at-large seats would elect two members focused on the whole district. Under this revised structure, the school board chair and vice chair’s decisions would not be beholden to the political needs of fellow board members in smaller districts. They would have to weigh
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AppenMedia.com/Dunwoody | Dunwoody Crier | December 18, 2025 | 23
the needs of the entire district in their decisions, instead of worrying about whether they are doing enough for Solution their respective constituencies. My other proposal is to move board elections to November, mirroring how A L A S E L M S A S I A school board elections are held in S E A L I C I N G D E L I cities with their own school systems, S A K I N E A T H E N O L such as Decatur. Traditionally, the S E L L O P T S M O A DeKalb County School Board general A R C P R O elections are held during the state B U R G O O E E L C A M primary elections, even though the B O N D E V A D E Z E R O races are nonpartisan. This is a date S P O D E A D O S A L B A established by state law. E R I N S I B S P I A N O Because of the timing, DeKalb S I R S N E E Z E S E N School Board elections tend to get P T A C A D lost in the shuffle. Turnout can be W A R R O T S A L A I influenced by which Dunwoody party has more Connect-It Crier a12/18/25 A R O S E I T E M O D D S contested primary. V E G A G A L A D I P P Y At a minimum, these elections E P O S S M E W I D E A should be held in November in federal Connect-It Solution election years, not May. This would Copyright ©2025 PuzzleJunction.com give voters more time to properly vet 1 F I N C H A R E M I S C these candidates while ensuring a Copyright ©2025 PuzzleJunction.com higher turnout for each election. My 2 N O R A D I L L I T E R preferred fix would be to hold DeKalb County School Board elections during the municipal election cycle, since 3 D A W N A S D A Q U I T most of our county’s cities are served by the DeKalb district. 4 S E A T O L I O M E G A The legislative delegation could soon put forth its own plans for 5 G U R U N I C E F A K E reforming our school district and I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say. Whatever those plans are, 6 N A P A C T I O N O A A we need bold and decisive action by Solution our legislators. Incremental changes 7 A B H O R A D A R E E K will not move the needle enough to prevent another disruptive leadership change in DeKalb County Schools. Our students deserve better 9 3 6 7 2 8 5 4 1 and our leaders must demand it. Anything less than that is a missed 1 8 4 6 9 5 3 2 7 opportunity.
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