Our Schools Deserve a Board Member Who Puts Students First — Not Herself
Ruth D. Goldstein · District 2
DeKalb County School Board · May 19, 2026
Accountability| A message to District 2 voters · May 2026
District 2 · DeKalb County Schools
Our Schools Deserve a Board Member Who Puts Students First — Not Herself
The incumbent voted for Devon Horton — later charged with 17 federal counts of fraud — and told voters plainly why: she didn't want to hurt her working relationship with him. That is not representation. That is the problem.
RG
Ruth D. Goldstein, CFP®
Registered Investment Advisor · Candidate for DeKalb School Board, District 2
I want to talk to you about something important — not as a politician, but as a neighbor and as a professional whose entire career is built on one obligation: put the people I serve first. No exceptions. No carve-outs for relationships. No bending the rule because something is uncomfortable or inconvenient.
That obligation has a name in my profession. It is called fiduciary duty. And it is exactly what has been missing from DeKalb County's District 2 school board seat.
Our incumbent, Whitney McGinniss, voted for Devon Horton to serve as DeKalb County's superintendent. Horton was later federally indicted on 17 counts — wire fraud, tax fraud, and embezzlement — related to his time leading a school district in Illinois. He was also subsequently arrested on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation. A forensic audit of DeKalb County Schools spending, ordered by the board after the indictment, is still underway as you read this.
I am not writing to relitigate Horton's crimes — a federal jury will address those. I am writing because of what happened before the indictment, and because of what our incumbent said when she was finally asked to account for her vote.
The Warning Signs Were There
The Red Flags Were Public Before He Was Ever Hired
This is the part of the story that every District 2 voter needs to understand: the concerns about Devon Horton's conduct were not hidden. They were reported publicly — in Evanston, Illinois, and in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — before this board ever cast a single vote to bring him to DeKalb County.
A Public Record the Board Could Not Claim Not to Know
Mar. 2023
No-bid contract concerns surface publicly.A parent journalism professor in Evanston published findings — obtained through public records requests — showing Horton had formed an LLC with individuals simultaneously receiving no-bid contracts from his district. Three of those individuals were later named in the federal indictment.Source: Evanston RoundTable, March 2023 [1]
Apr. 2023
The AJC reports on the contract allegations.Before Horton is hired in DeKalb, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution covers the no-bid contract concerns. The board proceeds anyway.Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 2023 [2]
2024
Credit card abuse reported while Horton serves DeKalb.The Evanston RoundTable and a local watchdog report Horton charged personal expenses — including moving costs and a resort stay — to a district procurement card. The district says the money was "swiftly repaid." The board says nothing publicly.Source: Evanston RoundTable, 2024 [3]
Oct. 2025
Federal indictment.Horton is charged with 17 counts of wire fraud, tax fraud, and embezzlement. The board orders a forensic audit of district spending.Source: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, October 8, 2025 [4]
When a fiduciary — whether managing money or managing a school board seat — sees warning signs, the job is to ask hard questions, demand answers, and protect the people who are depending on you. The warning signs were there. The questions were not asked. The protection was not provided.
The Explanation
She Told Us Exactly Why — and That Is the Problem
At a recent candidate forum covered by Decaturish, Whitney McGinniss was asked directly about her vote for Devon Horton. Her answer was candid. It was also disqualifying.
Given that Dr. Horton was going to be the next superintendent either way, I felt that voting against him likely would have hurt our future working relationship and important District 2 priorities.
— Whitney McGinniss, Decaturish candidate forum, April 2026
I have read that statement many times since it was published, and I want you to sit with it too.
She is not saying she lacked information. She is not saying she was deceived. She is saying she saw a potential problem — and chose to protect her relationship with the superintendent rather than exercise independent judgment on behalf of the students, parents, and taxpayers of District 2.
A school board member's job — their entire reason for existing — is to serve as an independent check on the superintendent's office. The moment a board vote is driven by what will preserve a personal working relationship, that board member has stopped working for the public. They have started working for the administration.
That is not a difference in governing philosophy. That is a fundamental failure of the role.
What Fiduciary Duty Means
What I Mean When I Say "Fiduciary"
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As a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) Professional and Registered Investment Advisor, managing member, I operate under a fiduciary standard every single day. That means every decision I make must serve my clients' interests — not my own convenience, not my own relationships, and not my own comfort. A fiduciary who puts their personal working relationship ahead of their clients' interests is not just acting poorly — they are violating the law. DeKalb County's students and taxpayers deserve that same standard from every member of their school board.
I am not running to be your friend on the board. I am running to be your representative. Those two things are different, and the difference matters enormously when a superintendent with publicly reported ethics concerns is being considered for a $360,000-a-year job with your tax dollars.
Fiduciary duty is not complicated. It means: when a warning sign appears, you investigate — you do not ignore it to protect a relationship. It means: when credit card abuse is discovered, you demand accountability — you do not call it "swiftly repaid" and move on. It means: when three board members vote no and seven warning signs are on the public record, you ask yourself why.
What Is at Stake
District 2 Deserves Better. Our Children Deserve Better.
DeKalb County Schools manages over $1 billion in public funds. This district has had four superintendents in six years. A forensic audit of district spending is still underway. And the board majority that enabled this is asking for your vote again.
I understand that change is uncomfortable. I understand that McGinniss has attended events, shown up at schools, and worked to build relationships across District 2. Attendance is real. Community presence is real. But community presence and governance accountability are two different things — and right now, at this moment, District 2 needs the latter.
Our children need a board member who will read a public records report about a superintendent's no-bid contracts and ask uncomfortable questions — even if asking those questions makes the next meeting awkward. Our taxpayers need a board member who will see a procurement card abuse report and demand a public response — even if the superintendent has already written a check. Our community needs a board member who will vote no when the record warrants a no — even if that vote damages a working relationship.
That is what I will do. Every time. Without exception. Because that is what fiduciary duty requires.
Whitney McGinniss told voters she voted for Devon Horton to protect her working relationship with him. I'm running because our children's futures are more important than anyone's working relationship.
— Ruth D. Goldstein, CFP® · Candidate, District 2
On May 19th, District 2 has a choice. You can return an incumbent who measured her vote against a superintendent by the health of her own relationship with him. Or you can send a fiduciary professional to that board seat — someone whose legal and ethical obligation is to put the people she serves first, always, without reservation.
I am asking for the chance to be that representative. I am asking for your vote.
Election Day is May 19, 2026.
Early voting is open now.
Register to VoteFind Your Polling Place
Sources & Notes
[1]
No-bid contract and LLC findings: Evanston RoundTable, March 2023. Parent journalism professor Tom Hayden published findings via public records requests identifying Horton's LLC and its connection to district contractors. Three individuals identified in his reporting were later named in the federal indictment.
[2]
AJC coverage of contract allegations: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 2023. Reported on the no-bid contract concerns prior to Horton's hiring by DeKalb County Schools.
[3]
Procurement card abuse reporting: Evanston RoundTable and local watchdog, 2024. Reported that Horton charged personal moving expenses and a resort stay to a district credit card while serving as DeKalb superintendent. District confirmed the charges were "swiftly repaid."
[4]
Federal indictment — 17 counts: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, October 8, 2025. Charges include wire fraud, tax fraud, and embezzlement related to Horton's tenure as superintendent of Evanston/Skokie School District 65. All charges are allegations. Horton has pleaded not guilty.
[5]
McGinniss quote on working relationship: Decaturish candidate forum coverage, April 2026. Direct quotation from Whitney McGinniss explaining her vote to hire Devon Horton.
[6]
Horton's $360,000 salary and July 2025 raise: Decaturish, July 2025 board vote coverage. The board voted 4-3 to extend Horton's contract and raise his salary by $35,000, bringing total compensation to $360,000. The vote occurred months before the federal indictment.
[7]
Criminal assault charges: January 2026. Horton was arrested on charges of cruelty to children (third degree) and aggravated assault by strangulation stemming from a domestic incident. All charges are allegations.
[8]
Forensic audit of DeKalb County Schools: Ordered by the DeKalb County School Board following Horton's federal indictment, October 2025. Results pending as of publication.
AccountabilityDistrict 2DeKalb SchoolsVote May 19