Public transparency is why DeKalb County Superintendent Dr. Cheryl L. H. Atkinson did a review of the school system’s 15,000 employees in her first term in office. What the seasoned educator found was that seven former employees were being paid the sum of nearly $50,000. The overpayments were a result of incorrectly recorded leaves within the school district’s office. In addition, 141 others employment statuses could not be verified after a system wide check of records.

The investigation, which took several weeks, required school employees to verify their employment and fill in paperwork. Although the number of overpaid former employees wasn’t high, fellow school board members are pleased with Atkinson’s thorough look into the system. "I think this goes to the determination of the superintendent to get to the bottom of all of the problems in the DeKalb County school system," said school board member Paul Womack. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the system's legal affairs office is investigating and will try to recover the unearned payments.