Next week marks the beginning of DeKalb County Schools officially gathering public input into their future plans for high schools and middle schools in the county. Click here for meeting dates, times, and locations.
We can make decisions that will benefit one or two clusters more than others, or we can make decisions that will benefit the greatest number of students. The way I see it, there is really only one “big-picture” option to consider. We need to consider options that will be long-term solutions.
From all that I have seen from teaching and living along Buford Highway, and from all my conversations with different city officials, community members, and students and their families, I believe the best option for Region 1 of North DeKalb would be to create school attendance zones (clusters) 1 according to the general city boundaries (as outlined in this original post) — a Brookhaven cluster, a Chamblee cluster, a Doraville cluster, and a Dunwoody cluster.
Creating a New Cluster
The Atlanta Regional Commission estimates we will add over 22,000 people to the area of DeKalb north of I-85 by the year 2040 (155,000 total population growth the county). In order to address the overcrowding and dilapidated conditions in many of the Region 1 schools, we need more schools and we need renovations to current schools.
If we create school attendance zones that mimic these city lines, we could create the enviable “community school,” something many parents across the region advocate for.
The tighter district lines meet the needs of those who want to have a more consolidated community that centers around one high school (with its feeder middle school(s) and elementary schools), allowing for a community “center” (similar to that of Decatur High School)
- The tighter district lines meet the needs of those who want to have a more consolidated community that centers around one high school (with its feeder middle school(s) and elementary schools), allowing for a community “center” (similar to that of Decatur High School, pictured above).
- The smaller district will allow for more efficient transportation for students (since the buses won’t have to take students up to 10 miles to their high school, as they currently do within the Cross Keys HS attendance zone).
- Promote integration of different socioeconomic statuses and races.
- Those who want a city school district will be able to, in some ways, have this (without the ability to control personnel within the school and without the ability to control funding).
Here is a very crude rendering of what the boundary lines could look like with this new “Doraville” high school:
The New Doraville Cluster
Because Dunwoody High School and Cross Keys High School are overcapacity, building a new high school in Doraville would be one of the best ways to address this issue while also accomplishing the above-listed goals. I know that the city officials of Doraville have been advocating for this, so acquiring some of the city-owned land could be a possible route for DCSS to explore.
This cluster would consist of the Doraville high school, Sequoyah Middle School, Cary Reynolds Elementary School, Hightower Elementary School, and a new Doraville elementary school.
I also wanted to suggest the complete renovation and/or demolition and reconstruction of Cary Reynolds Elementary School. This building is unfit for students. It has visible mold and mildew (and the smell to accommodate) and is clearly too small of a facility to educate our kids equitably.
We could build a brand new, 900-student facility here, and — from my conversations with former and current teachers, as well as families of students who have attended there — I feel that the community and teachers would support this endeavor.
A new elementary school could also be constructed somewhere in the Doraville cluster to provide a new educational building for students in the overcrowded Cary Reynolds and Hightower Elementary School facilities.
The New Chamblee Cluster
The Chamblee cluster would consist of Chamblee Charter High School, Chamblee Middle School, Montgomery Elementary School, Dresden Elementary School, and Huntley Hills Elementary School.
This is the cluster that I think will be the least affected by this change but could perhaps see the most opposition. The only change would be that this cluster would add Dresden Elementary School (physical school) as a feeder school and Ashford Park Elementary School (the physical building — not necessarily all the students) would become a feeder school for the Cross Keys cluster.
Dresden ES is located 2.9 miles from Chamblee and it is located in Chamblee’s city limits; Ashford Park ES is about the same distance to Chamblee HS and Cross Keys HS. And — if we realign the attendance zone to more closely reflect the neighborhood, even Ashford Park ES has described itself as “a lively elementary school nestled in a charming Brookhaven community.”
I already have been made aware that some parents are strongly against being moved out of the Chamblee HS cluster, so this could be something that parent groups would need to discuss and consider. If there are other alternatives, I think discussions like these could bring them out. However, I already understand that while some parents will say they want their children to be in the Chamblee cluster because of the high school, other parents have said the following either on Facebook or to my face:
I have also been told by an Ashford Park resident that “people in Ashford Park don’t spend $700,000 on a house for their kids to go to Cross Keys.”
I think that we need to truly examine ourselves and our district if we are going to continue to let these types of reasons be the reasons why we decide not to redistrict or rebuild in certain areas. I believe if people want to spend a lot of money for their children’s education, then they are welcome to attend private school.
However, when an individual purchases a house in a neighborhood, they don’t become entitled to a particular school. The school is public and the decisions made for the schools must be in the best interest of the public. Public schools are supposed to be equal across the board, and it is the district’s obligation to ensure that this is done.
The New Cross Keys Cluster
The Cross Keys Cluster, with the creation of the new Doraville cluster, will change dramatically. This cluster will no longer be an elongated, 10-mile attendance zone that is over 80% Hispanic, but it will instead resemble the lines of the city of Brookhaven a bit more closely (although Montgomery ES in the north — under these proposed lines — would be in the Chamblee cluster).
This cluster would consist of Cross Keys High School, a new Brookhaven middle school, a new elementary school (possibly at the former Skyland ES), Montclair Elementary School, and Ashford Park Elementary School. Because Brookhaven is currently experiencing so much of the growth along the Buford Highway corridor, and because its elementary schools are overcrowded, building new schools in this part of town seems to make sense.
I know many of my students love the fact that Cross Keys HS consists of a pretty homogeneous student body, and I know that even I as a teacher would miss many aspects of that homogeneity. However, I think from a more practical standpoint, aligning the attendance zones in a more geographically sensible way is the most financially expedient and most equitable course of action.
Not only would there be the positive aspects that true diversity brings with it, but it would also address the issue of overcrowding in the middle schools by creating a new cluster and necessarily a new middle school (since Sequoyah Middle School would be within the new Doraville attendance zone). That middle school could be built somewhere within the city of Brookhaven.
The Dunwoody Cluster
I don’t want to pretend like I understand all the different concerns of those who live in Dunwoody, but I do want to say that this cluster needs renovations and additions. From my analysis of the data and the number of trailers on the different schools in this particular cluster, overcrowding is beginning and is only going to get worse.
Creating the Doraville high school cluster would move some of the students, but it still wouldn’t solve all the overcapacity issues. I hope that this time around, however, SPLOST monies find their way to addressing the overcapacity issues in the northern part of DeKalb. I think if we can address these needs, families and students in Dunwoody will be less likely to push fora separation between them and DCSS in the form of advocating for an independent school district.
I know these issues are difficult, and I don’t want to speak for the entire community. However, I do want to continue the conversation and provide food for thought as these very important meetings take place beginning next week at Tucker High School.
Please feel free to contact me or to comment below. rebekahcmorris@gmail.com
Current Breakdown of Trailers for Region 1
| Cluster | Campus | Single Trailers (or “Portables”) | Quad Structures (4 Rooms) | Total Trailer “Classrooms” | |
| Chamblee | Montgomery | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Kittredge | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Huntley Hills | 6 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ashford Park | 5 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Chamblee MS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chamblee HS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL CHAMBLEE | 16 | 0 | 16 | ||
| Average | 2.6 structures per campus | ||||
| Cross Keys | Oakcliff | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cary Reynolds | 25 | 0 | 25 | ||
| Montclair | 9 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Dresden | 26 | 0 | 26 | ||
| Woodward | 8 | 1 | 12 | ||
| Sequoyah | 5 | 3 | 17 | ||
| Cross Keys | 3 | 3 | 15 | ||
| TOTAL CROSS KEYS | 86 | 7 | 114 | ||
| Average | 13.3 structures per campus | ||||
| Dunwoody | Austin | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Vanderlyn | 3 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Dunwoody ES | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Kingsley | 5 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Chestnut | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Hightower | 9 | 1 | 13 | ||
| Peachtree MS | 4 | 2 | 12 | ||
| Dunwoody HS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL DUNWOODY | 26 | 5 | 46 | ||
| Average | 3.9 structures per campus | ||||
Georgian Educator 
April 9, 2016 at 10:17 am
Fair analysis and one I appreciate. You also know that I personally don’t see the population to justify building more high schools and middle schools. That is a big assumption to support such expansion. Additionally, new construction dollars to support this plan do not exist and there’s no additional funding identified to maintain existing school plant that will continue to operate at virtually all the area ESes.. Two quick additional questions:
1. I don’t see where in your analysis you address the DeKalb High Achievers magnet programs. Any proposal that does not address these current programs, and especially the one at CCHS, isn’t ready for consideration. Where is the Magnet in those plan?
2. Why should DCSD plan on redevelopment of Buford Hwy INCREASING public school enrollment when recent history in the area demonstrates the opposite (new higher end housing sends FEWER students to local public schools than older, mid to low end housing)?
It is important to keep the dialog going and broadening it. It is equally important that a countywide context in terms of finance and programming be in scope.
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April 9, 2016 at 11:01 am
Thank you, Kim, for your response. You know I always appreciate your insight, leadership, and feedback. I tried to respond to each point you raised, as I do feel that they are legitimate concerns that you and others have.
“You also know that I personally don’t see the population to justify building more high schools and middle schools. That is a big assumption to support such expansion.”
I actually started out this post advocating for two different options:one would include Chamblee expanding its attendance zone to encompass Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville (basically Chamblee HS and Cross Keys HS combined into one “Chamblee Cluster”). This option also would have included the DeKalb County Schools county-wide magnet program relocating to the site of the former Briarcliff HS.
However, when I looked at the GIS mapping and weave tool on the ARCs website, and I looked at DeKalb schools’ predicted growth, I saw that such a school would be at capacity almost immediately. Even removing the 600(ish) students from Chamblee by moving the magnet program, it would still leave that school with too many students.
According to the handout the district distributed at the CK Overcrowding meetings (http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/redistricting/wp-content/uploads/sites/58/2016/01/Handout_Combined_.pdf), Chamblee and CKHS would have 3390 students by 2017. If you remove the 600 magnet students, you would end up with about 2800 students but the 2017-2018 school year. This would be overcapacity within another couple years if development continues along the BuHi corridor. I don’t think we need to make plans that depend on being almost 100% accurate, especially when — if we’re wrong — we risk being overcrowded again and having to rethink “long-term” solutions. Let’s think long-term now.
I agree higher-end housing doesn’t add as many students as more affordable homes, however, the development along BuHi isn’t simply affordable housing converting to higher-end housing. Much of the development is occurring on undeveloped land parcels (i.e. Assembly, Olmsted, Chamblee Tucker Road). I think these housing developments happening on undeveloped land parcels and on former commercial sites will definitely add populations, including students.
“Additionally, new construction dollars to support this plan do not exist and there’s no additional funding identified to maintain existing school plant that will continue to operate at virtually all the area ESes.”.
I think if we merge some of the severely undercapacity schools in the southern part of the county, then we could find some additional dollars to invest where the student population is growing. I think we can also continue to use SPLOST dollars wisely, in addition to using our current $1.5 billion budget more expediently.
“Two quick additional questions:
1. I don’t see where in your analysis you address the DeKalb High Achievers magnet programs. Any proposal that does not address these current programs, and especially the one at CCHS, isn’t ready for consideration. Where is the Magnet in those plan?”
The magnet would stay at Chamblee HS.
“2. Why should DCSD plan on redevelopment of Buford Hwy INCREASING public school enrollment when recent history in the area demonstrates the opposite (new higher end housing sends FEWER students to local public schools than older, mid to low end housing)?”
See above. Also, where are you getting the numbers for your estimate? I have only found more and more evidence from DCSD, the ARC, and other sources to support population growth in our area.
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April 9, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Thoughtful comments as always, Rebekah. I don’t think we have a disagreement on the facts. We have a disagreement in our conclusions on the same facts. For example, 2800 as peak enrollment seems like a reasonable number to plan for to me. However I don’t agree the 2800 requires 2 high schools. I believe that number supports one large format high school or two medium to small high schools at most.
Regarding the redevelopment of commercial sites to residential, the examples you mentioned are speculative and the ones we have for reference don’t support your conclusion. Town Brookhaven for example displaced lower and working-class residential multifamily as well as commercial and green space. The net effect was reducing Public School enrollment by a couple of hundred. This was due to the old apartments being removed and in the spaces where new multi-family high-end were added there was a net add of six or seven students from hundreds of new units. So while I’m open to speculation about future developments I don’t think there’s room for speculation about current examples they show a reduction even when green fields are developed into new multi-family.
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April 9, 2016 at 1:28 pm
“I don’t agree the 2800 requires 2 high schools” should read, “I don’t agree the 2800 requires >three< high schools" …
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April 9, 2016 at 1:33 pm
Regarding consolidation in South DeKalb, we can agree that is an objective worth pursuing. But until it is achieved (and other consolation in other areas) my argument is that we cannot afford the plant we have now much less massive expansion for Region 1.
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