School superintendent responds to students' concerns

CHAMBLEE - Two students who work on the Chamblee High School newspaper said DeKalb County school superintendent Johnny Brown overreacted to inaccuracies in their stories by confiscating copies of the newspaper. <br> <br> But, Brown denied any involvement in last week&#39;s seizure of undistributed copies of the paper. And, he said he was not concerned about the criticism. <br> <br> ``I frankly was surprised that particular action had taken place,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Brown, who came to DeKalb this summer from Birmingham, Ala., had questioned Chamblee Principal Cheryl Finke on Friday about stories written by student journalists J.C. Boyle and Alan Simpson. <br> <br> This school year&#39;s first issue of the Blue and Gold included an article and a critical editorial about the new initiatives in DeKalb, including school uniforms, and controversies in the Birmingham, Ala., school system. <br> <br> Sterling Thomas, Brown&#39;s executive assistant, said only papers that had not been distributed were taken and that the action was justified because the newspaper is a school system publication. <br> <br> About 30 to 40 copies of the confiscated issue will be returned Thursday, school officials said.