Chamblee High principal to leave after months of criticism

Rebecca Braaten, the Chamblee Charter High School principal who for months has been dogged by allegations she ran her school using intimida- tion and fear, is leaving the school, district officials said.

Braaten will become an administrator on special assignment for the Curric- ulum and Instruction and Accountability divisions on Dec. 17, according to a statement provided to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She came to the district in 2017, ahead of the 2017-2018 school year, from Muscogee County Schools, where she was an assistant superintendent for four years.

The reassignment was her request, district officials said.

Problems with Braaten popped up immediately, including a petition by a par- ent calling for her ouster.

The campaign gained steam after German teacher Uwe Neuhaus was suspended for an assignment where students were supposed to act out racy skits. When he was suspended, parents and teachers began more vocally voicing their frustration over Braaten, including allegations she called police on a male teacher and had him subject to a breathalyzer, as well as rigging voting for the school’s teacher of the year.

Teachers said in a letter to parents and others that Braaten has threatened teachers’ jobs, often remind- ing them that their contracts are with the county, not the school. During her first staff meeting in August, teachers said she told them “you’ll find out real quick that I don’t play, and I will light you up.”

Several students received punishment earlier this school year for having stickers at school that said “Fire Braaten.”