The DeKalb County (Georgia) School Board has agreed to pay $325,000 to settle the contract of the superintendent it fired in 2022 after less than two years on the job.
WSB-TV reports that the board voted 6 to 1 to approve the settlement with Cheryl Watson-Harris based on her original contract terms. The board also agreed to pay $16,000 in attorneys fees.
At the time of her firing, Watson-Harris said she was “blindsided” by her the board's action, but board members said their relationship had been “deteriorating for some time to the point the association became irreconcilable.”
Watson-Harris was named superintendent for DeKalb Schools in June 2020.
Before being hired in DeKalb County, Watson-Harris served as first deputy chancellor, senior director of field support and Brooklyn executive director for the New York City Department of Education.
Following the dismissal of Watson-Harris, the school board appointed Vasanne Tinsley as interim superintendent, and in 2023, it hired Devon Horton, superintendent of the Evanston/Skokie (Illinois) School District, to lead DeKalb County schools.
