Don’t shoot the piano teacher

A DeKalb County ordinance that makes it illegal for private music teachers to work at home without a permit also outlaws non-permitted professional tutoring of any kind.

But teachers who want to abide by the two-year-old measure face a tough hurdle: The county commission considers only 60 applications a year for the special permits. Currently, the county has a moratorium on any new applications.

The obscure 1999 ordinance came to light last month when county commissioners denied piano teacher Nancy Stokes a permit to continue teaching at home after her neighbors complained that traffic to her home was disrupting the neighborhood.

The county ordinance worries one retired longtime DeKalb school teacher who occasionally does chemistry tutoring in her home. “In many cases, parents are desperate to get a tutor because they’re trying to get their kid into a good college,” says the teacher, who doesn’t want her name used. “This rule is very limiting.”??






Activism
Issues
The Blotter
COVID Updates
Latest News
Current Issue