Dunwoody and Brookhaven families can question superintendent finalist Dr. Norman C. Sauce III at a DeKalb County School District virtual town hall on Sept. 28.
The district scheduled a "Meet the Finalist" session for Monday, Sept. 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. The district announced the event on X on Sept. 21, inviting students, families, employees and community members to join.
The session is the only confirmed public engagement event before the board's final vote on Oct. 5, when members will decide whether to make Sauce the permanent superintendent of the nearly 100,000-student district.
A divided board set the stage
The board voted 4-3 on Sept. 14 to name Sauce the sole finalist. Chair Allyson Gevertz and members Whitney McGinniss, Deirdre Pierce and Andrew Ziffer voted yes. Tiffany Hogan, Vice Chair Awet Eyasu and Diijon DaCosta voted no, arguing the district should have conducted a formal search.
No other candidates were interviewed for the role, board attorney Winston Denmark confirmed, as WABE first reported.
Hogan pulled the item from the consent agenda at the start of the Sept. 14 meeting, forcing a public discussion before the vote. The district has had nine different superintendents since 2010.
Who is Dr. Sauce?
Sauce became acting superintendent on Oct. 10, 2025, after former superintendent Devon Horton was federally indicted on charges related to his time leading Evanston-Skokie School District 65 in Illinois. Horton later resigned.
Sauce has worked in public education for more than 27 years. Before the interim role, he served as the district's chief of student services starting in February 2024. He also oversaw principals at 22 DeKalb high schools as area superintendent and served as principal of Chamblee High School, according to Rough Draft Atlanta.
What's at stake locally
This fall, the district's Student Assignment Project focuses on overcrowded schools in the Dunwoody, Chamblee, Lakeside, Cross Keys, Tucker and Druid Hills clusters. New and expanded schools are expected to open between 2027 and 2029.
Parent Tatiana Haggerty told FOX 5 Atlanta on Sept. 8 that she wanted more options. "We should always consider someone else," Haggerty said.
After the Sept. 14 vote, Sauce said serving in this role would be the honor of a lifetime, adding that there is nowhere else he would rather be than serving this community.
Georgia law requires the finalist's name to be public at least 14 days before the final vote. Public input remains open until the Oct. 5 board meeting.
