Atlanta school board praises superintendent at mid-year review

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen was hired in 2014. On Monday, the board discussed her mid-year review. KENT D. JOHNSON/ kdjohnson@ajc.com

Credit: KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

Credit: KENT D. JOHNSON / AJC

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen was hired in 2014. On Monday, the board discussed her mid-year review. KENT D. JOHNSON/ kdjohnson@ajc.com

Atlanta school board chairman Jason Esteves touted Superintendent Meria Carstarphen's work so far this school year during a report on her mid-year evaluation.

“As the new board, we are pleased with her progress to implement our collective vision for the school system. We remain on target with the five-year strategic plan, and we are confident that she will remain a strong leader for us as we strive to create a caring culture of trust and collaboration to prepare every student for college and career,” said Esteves, during a Monday meeting after the Atlanta Board of Education conducted her mid-year review in private, as allowed by state law.

Last January, the board gave Carstarphen, who makes a base salary of $390,150 and became superintendent in 2014, a contract extension through June 30, 2019. Esteves said he plans to wait until her end-of-year evaluation in the summer to talk about another contract extension, which will give the three newly elected board members more time to get up to speed.

Carstarphen cited the district's work under her leadership to improve graduation rates to 77 percent and boost state report card scores in 2016-17 for about two thirds of its schools. "I'm the first to acknowledge that we have yet to have a perfectly smooth year," she said. "I'm still very excited about being here."

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