DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Former employees of the DeKalb County School District have sent information to local law enforcement suggesting that Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton, recently indicted on federal charges, may have more allegations coming.
Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes spoke with retired DeKalb County School Board member Dr. Joyce Morley, who was the only vote against hiring Horton.
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She said she could not understand why the board would hire someone who was facing a federal lawsuit during their nationwide search for a superintendent in 2023.
“We had an attorney that aided and abetted this, and we had board members, and we had a scared board of educators who were just afraid to speak up on many occasions,” Morley said.
A year after Horton’s hiring, anonymous documents outlining allegations of tax fraud, wire fraud and embezzlement were sent to school board members, Morley told Fernandes.
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One document in the federal indictment claims Horton “knowingly embezzled, stole, and without authority converted to the use of a person other than the rightful owner.”
Verdalia Turner, President of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, expressed concern over the district’s instability, noting that there have been four superintendents in six years.
“I wasn’t indifferent, I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t surprised. I was just like, ‘OK, two more years out of our lives and we told you so,’” Turner said.
Horton’s attorney maintains his innocence and eagerness to fight the federal charges.
Fernandes reached out to the attorney for any updates, but did not receive anything new.
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