Dunwoody residents and leaders meet about schools

DUNWOODY, Ga. -- Parents, city leaders and members of the business community met Sunday afternoon to discuss the future of their schools.

Less than five years after becoming a city, some want to know why they can't create an independent school district for Dunwoody.

Stacey Harris is the President of the Dunwoody Homeowners' Association and said many in the city are worried about the ongoing problems with the DeKalb County School District.

"One reason Dunwoody pursued cityhood was because we were dissatisfied with the services we were receiving from the county.  The same thing applies to our school system," Harris said.

Harris and others have formed the Dunwoody Parents Concerned About Quality Education.

At 4 p.m., around 300 people packed the Kingswood United Methodist Church to hear about some options being considered. 

Both the city council and the Dunwoody Homeowners' Association have publicly backed House Resolution 486 introduced by Rep. Tom Taylor.  If passed, it would allow municipalities formed after 2005 create their own independent school districts. However, that would require amending the state constitution.  Taylor himself told the crowd it would be a long term solution and likely wouldn't get on the ballot until November 2014.

After watching the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools put the DeKalb County school system on probation and six ousted board members sue to keep their jobs, they worry about the future of their children's education.

Parent Allegra Johnson said she was frustrated well before a scathing SACS report was released last December.

"For years, money that was supposed to be going to benefit our teachers to help them teach our kids has been spent on things, like lawsuits, that have nothing to do with our kids," Johnson said.

As for other options, the newly formed group is looking at another agency that could accredit schools and whether to revisit the idea of charter schools of school clusters.

As for changing the constitution to allow smaller school districts, residents said they are optimistic but also realistic.

"We know it will be an uphill battle. It could take years, but as more people are opting for smaller, locally run cities why shouldn't their school districts be run the same way," Harris said.

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Fayette Co. School Board votes Monday night on closing four schools

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -- For weeks, Fayette County parents have pleaded with the school board not to close four schools to help close a budget shortfall of $15 million.

The board votes Monday at 7 p.m. It's a day some Fayette County residents hoped would never come.

All four schools on the chopping block -- Brooks Elementary, Fayette Middle, Fayetteville Intermediary and Tyrone Elementary -- are community schools, and some believe closing the schools could bring down property values and force businesses to close.

The school system sees the schools as a way to help cut nearly $4 million out of the budget deficit.

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Researchers in Atlanta: A baby with HIV cured

Scientists say a baby born with the AIDS virus appears to have been cured thanks to faster and stronger treatment than is usual for newborns.

ATLANTA -- Scientists said a baby born with the AIDS virus appears to have been cured thanks to faster and stronger treatment than is usual for newborns.

Scientists at a major AIDS meeting in Atlanta say the Mississippi child is now 2½ and has been off HIV drugs for about a year with no signs of infection.

If the child remains healthy, it would mark only the world's second reported cure. Specialists say it offers promising clues for more research to fight pediatric HIV.

"Standardly in the U.S., we don't really give treatment as early as this child received therapy. We wait to know whether the child is infected or not, and that can take sometimes up to four to six weeks to be able to identify an infected child," said Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Medical Center. "So this case is distinct because the therapy was started so early."

Sunday's announcement in Atlanta suggests giving high-dose treatment right after birth wiped out HIV before it could form hideouts in the body that usually reinfect anyone who stops medication.

The baby was born to an HIV-infected mother who stopped giving her child medication at 15 months. She went back to the birthday around the child's second birthday.

"The mom admitted that she had not been giving the medicine for the past several months, and I fully expected the baby's viral load to have gone back up," said Dr. Hannah Gay, Pediatric HIV Specialist with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. "But when we drew the test, we got back still an undetectable viral load."

(Associated Press)

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Heidi Klum named new judge on 'America's Got Talent'

Heidi Klum waves before the Project Runway show during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2013 collections on February 8, 2013 in New York. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK -- NBC says Heidi Klum has been added to "America's Got Talent" as its fourth judge.

The network announced Monday that the supermodel will join fellow incoming judge Mel B this summer for the talent competition's eighth season. Howie Mandel and Howard Stern will be back at the judges' panel.

Klum says she's excited to join the show and size up the talent, "from the ridiculous to the fantastic."

She continues to host the Peabody Award-winning "Project Runway" on Lifetime, as well as Germany's "Next Top Model."

(Associated Press)

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Jeb Bush hasn't ruled out 2016 White House run

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (Getty Images)

NEW YORK (NBC) -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush won't confirm he's a candidate for the next presidential race, but he sounded like a White House hopeful Monday, declaring his party in need of leadership.

"I have a voice, I want to share my beliefs about how the conservative movement and the Republican party can regain its footing, because we've lost our way," he told TODAY's Matt Lauer.

Bush said he wouldn't rule out a run in 2016, "but I won't declare today either."

Instead, he offered his views on the current fiscal problems facing the White House and Congress, including the deep budget cuts that will be rolled out in numerous federal agencies in upcoming weeks.

Bush called the sequestration a "temporary problem in our history," one the nation appears numb to because of hype raised by President Obama.

"The president kind of led the charge to say that widows and orphans were going to be out on the street, and so when it didn't happen, he actually himself kind of stepped back on Friday and said it wasn't going to happen that way," he said.

Bush said the impact of the sequestration was "oversold" and "people are just numbed by this dysfunction and they watch it with their peripheral vision."

Bush also said recent fiscal problems are hampering progress on immigration reform, an issue he believes could help restore the nation's economic growth. It's also the one of the few areas where both parties have shown considerable compromise.

"This is the one place where cats and dogs seem to be getting along a little more, so I'm optimistic that there could be a consensus about going forward on immigration," said Bush, who addresses the issue in his new book, "Immigration Wars."

Bush faulted both the Republican party and its 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, for failing to garner more support from Hispanic voters during the last election cycle.

"Gov. Romney put himself in a box, I think, in the primary by trying to out(-conservative) conservatives, some very good conservative candidates, and never really recovered from it," Bush said.

Immigration may not be the dominant issue for Asian-Amerians, Hispanics and other minorities, Bush added, but Republicans need to recognize that it is important to them.

"It's a gateway. If you set a tone that you don't want people to be part of your team, they don't join," he said.

While Bush supports an immigration policy that would grant legal status to people who enter the country illegally if certain conditions are met, he does not support granting them citizenship.

"There has to be some difference between people who come here legally and illegally. It's just a matter of common sense and a matter of the rule of law," he said. "If we're not going to apply the law fairly and consistently, then we're going to have another wave of illegal immigrants coming into the country."

He also said many people don't want to become citizens.

"They want to come here, they want to work hard, they want to provide for their families. Some will want to come home, not necessarily all of them want to stay as citizens," he said.

Bush will appear next week at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC). One person who won't be joining him on the speaker roster is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was criticized by conservatives after he effusively praised President Obama for helping his state after Hurricane Sandy.

But Bush said conservatives were probably more put off by the way Christie handled budget issues unrelated to Sandy aid.

"I love Christie," Bush said of his possible rival for the 2016 presidential race. "I think Gov. Christie is a part of the future of the Republican party for sure, and whether he's going to C-PAC or not is not really changing that."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(The Today Show)

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Queen Elizabeth leaves hospital after stomach ailment

Queen Elizabeth II leaves King Edward II Hospital after being admitted with symptoms of gastroenteritis at King Edward VII Hospital on March 4, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

LONDON (AP) - Queen Elizabeth II has left a central London hospital after a one-day stay caused by a severe stomach bug.

She walked unassisted out of King Edward VII Hospital Monday afternoon wearing a red dress, and was driven away in a motorcade.

The hospital stay had initially been planned for two days. She has been suffering from gastroenteritis, a stomach and intestinal inflammation.

The 86-year-old queen has cancelled her engagements for this week due to the illness. It was her first hospitalization in 10 years.

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Langston Hughes HS on lockdown during police search

FAIRBURN, GA -- Langston Hughes High School has been put on lockdown Monday morning after police said a stolen car was found in the parking lot there.

Police said the lockdown is in place while the area around the school is being searched.

No other information was immediately available.

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