Plans to punish Gwinnett County’s school board with steep pay cuts over their handling of superintendent firings have been tossed. Lawmakers say the penalty would’ve taken effect immediately—something they didn’t mean to happen.
🪓 Why It Matters: Lawmakers claim families and taxpayers in Gwinnett have paid the price for repeated turnover at the top of the school system. The bill was designed to make board members think twice before firing another superintendent—but it’s off the table for now.
📝 What Changed:
- The salary cut was pulled from the legislation after it was discovered the change would apply right away, not just in the future.
- The rest of the proposal still pushes for more transparency—specifically, giving all board members the right to talk to the press, not just the chair.
💸 Key Details:
- If passed as written, board member pay could’ve dropped from over $22,000 a year to just $50 per meeting.
- The move came after Gwinnett paid out more than $1.3 million to buy out two superintendents’ contracts in recent years.
📆 Context:
- The board fired Calvin Watts earlier this year despite recently extending his contract.
- That followed the 2021 firing of J. Alvin Wilbanks. Both were let go before their agreements expired.
👀 What’s Next: Lawmakers signaled they may revisit this issue in future sessions but said time is too short to act now.
⚠️ Bottom Line: Gwinnett’s school board won’t see pay cuts this year, but legislators are watching—and sending a clear message: choose the next superintendent wisely.
