Three meeting redistricting process for schools in Chamblee and Brookhaven will start this October.
Redistricting – Fall 2018
The New John Lewis Elementary facility will be opening Fall 2019 on Skyland Drive in Brookhaven. The John R. Lewis ES Redistricting process is being undertaken this Fall (2018), and will affect schools in the Cross Keys and Chamblee clusters.
In the Approved Cross Keys Redistricting Plan, roughly 300 students were temporarily districted to the Druid Hills cluster. To address the opening of 300 seats of elementary capacity in the Druid Hills cluster, the Druid Hills Elementary Redistricting process is also being undertaken this Fall (2018) as part of a second redistricting process.
John R. Lewis ES Redistricting
The purpose of this redistricting process will be to determine new attendance lines for John R. Lewis ES. This redistricting will be the first of three years of redistricting in the Cross Keys and Chamblee clusters, as a new elementary school is scheduled to open in the norther part of the Cross Keys cluster in Fall 2020 (one year after new John Lewis ES opens), and the new Cross Keys HS and converted Cross Keys MS facilities will open in Fall 2021.
The John R. Lewis Redistricting process could impact:
- Ashford Park ES (Chamblee)
- Dresden ES (Cross Keys)
- John Lewis ES (Cross Keys)
- Montclair ES (Cross Keys)
- Montgomery ES (Chamblee)
- Woodward ES (Cross Keys)
- Chamblee MS (Chamblee)
- Sequoyah MS (Cross Keys)
- Chamblee HS (Chamblee)
- Cross Keys HS (Cross Keys)
The attendance areas of Briar Vista ES and Fernbank ES inside the Cross Keys cluster will be included in this
process.
Druid Hills Elementary Redistricting
The purpose of this redistricting process would be to take advantage of the 300 seats of available capacity at
Fernbank ES and Briar Vista ES to balance elementary enrollment in the Druid Hills cluster.
The Druid Hills Redistricting process could impact:
- Avondale ES
- Briar Vista ES
- Fernbank ES
- Laurel Ridge ES
- McLendon ES
Redistricting Process – Fall 2018 Oct 2018 – Feb 2019
Both redistricting processes will follow the District’s standard redistricting process used in the 2015 Cross Keys Redistricting and 2017 Clarkston & Stone Mountain Redistricting. The redistricting process is driven by three rounds of increasingly specific community input. Once all three rounds of community input are complete, a Superintendent Recommended Redistricting Plan will be presented to the Board for approval.
All public comments throughout all three rounds are limited to the following redistricting criteria
- Safety and traffic patterns
- Previous redistricting
- Intact neighborhoods
- Special programs, e.g., programs serving special needs students that require additional classroom space
- School feeder alignment
- Efficient and economical operations
Three Meeting Process & Timeframe
Meeting 1: The purpose of the first meeting is to gather general feedback from the community before any options are created or presented. The proposed dates for the first meeting of each process are:
• John Lewis Redistricting: Tuesday, October 2, 2018 @ Cross Keys HS, 7 PM
• Druid Hills Redistricting: Thursday, October 4, 2018 @ Druid Hills MS, 7 PM
• Online Survey: October 2 – October 11 (midnight)
Meeting 2: The second meeting introduces two to four options and allows the public to provide feedback on them. The proposed dates for the second meeting of each process are:
• John Lewis Redistricting: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 @ Cross Keys HS, 7 PM
• Druid Hills Redistricting: Thursday, October 25, 2018 @ Druid Hills MS, 7 PM
• Online Survey: October 23 – November 1 (midnight)
Meeting 3: The third meeting presents one “Staff Recommended” option and gives the public one more opportunity to provide feedback. The proposed dates for the third meeting of each process are:
• John Lewis Redistricting: Tuesday, November 27, 2018 @ Cross Keys HS, 7 PM
• Druid Hills Redistricting: Wednesday, November 28, 2018 @ Druid Hills MS, 7 PM
• Online Survey: November 27 – December 6 (midnight)
Board Approval: After the third public meeting, Planning staff incorporate all public feedback into a “Superintendent-Recommended Redistricting Plan”.
• First Read: January 7th, 2019 Board meeting
• Board Approval: February 4th, 2019 Board meeting.
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Thursday, October 4th is the first day of the fall break. Is there really a meeting scheduled that evening at DHMS to discuss redistricting?
Concerned Parent, it is disconcerting that these meetings are being held at all during the week when Fall Break starts. That absolutely should have been considered and those initial dates avoided to maximize attendance. But, maybe the County’s goal is to minimize attendance, that’s certainly how it seems.
Stan, could this mean the attendance area for Chamblee HS will be redrawn?
Yes. More than likely. Unless the community wants a split feeder pattern, redistricting the HS is on the table. That will be a part of the conversation starting in October.
I’m confused. DSCD’s plan clearly states the Chamblee will have a split feeder pattern.
Chamblee Middle and part of Sequoyah Middle will be feed into Chamblee Charter High School. The redistricting process is merely to decide how the lines will be drawn. But the plan approved by the BOE clearly has a split feeder.
Only Stan listened to community concerns and voted against the plan.
Stan, are you saying that there still might be a chance to change this? Chamblee would become the only DSCD high school with a split feeder pattern. There is probably a reason that this option has been strenuously avoided in the past.
Anonymous – They are looking to diversify Chamblee (don’t know why since its already quite diversified and really is a model is being a community that is represented by lots of various groups). In a way, they are trying to balance out the BuHi corridor between Chamblee and Cross Keys (or Brookhaven High School or Target High or whatever they’re going to call the new high school). As a result, Sequoyah will be split between the two schools.
Oops, I was wrong about Chamblee Charter High School having a “split feeder” pattern.
In fact, CCHS will have TWO feeder middle schools, all of Chamblee Middle School and all of Sequoyah Middle School.
This is clearly stated on page 8 of the DCSD document (http://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/documents/secondary-school-study/secondary-school-recomendation-presentation.pdf):
** Build new 600 seat addition at the existing Chamblee HS (2,400‐seat capacity)
** Sequoyah MS and Chamblee MS will serve as Chamblee cluster middle schools
So I guess the redistricting will determine which Chamblee elementary schools move to the Cross Keys cluster, and which of the Cross Keys elementary schools move to the Chamblee cluster.
I have heard that enrollment in these two clusters is declining rather than growing. I hope DCSD will re-check enrollment projections before they spend over $100 million to have a 2400 seat CCHS and a 2500 seat Cross Keys High School.
I’ll talk to planning and operations today. Any other questions I can ask?
Indeed- how about revisiting the concept of Doraville HS?
Stan,
It looks like Planning does an Enrollment and Capacity report each October. Please confirm that they are working on this and will post updated numbers next month.
I would hope that if this report shows significant changes that either Planning or the BOE will revisit the need to squeeze 600 more students into the already-undersized CCHS campus while also building a new 2500 seat high school.
Thanks!
Stan, do you know or can you find out what the format of these meetings will be? Will they be similar to the esplost meetings where everyone was broken out into smaller groups in classrooms with a moderator, or will they keep everyone together and allow for public comment, similar to a Board meeting? Knowing the format ahead of time would be very helpful. Thanks!
Hello Survey Says. I expect it to be a lot like the esplost meetings and recent redistricting meetings that went through the same process.
Stone Mountain & Clarkston Cluster Redistricting (November 2017 – February 2018)
Public Input: Round 1 (November 2, 2017, 6:30 PM at Freedom MS)
Thank you Stan, this is very helpful. Do you know if the agendas will be posted on the DCSD website sometime before the meetings?
I don’t know
Hi Stan-
Is there any update/additional information following the October 2nd meeting at Cross Keys? I was not able to attend and was hoping for a summary/key questions/update.
Thank you!
It was input gathering for the most part. Before the next meeting they’ll put out some options. They’ll discuss and get input at the next meeting.
Stan. I sometimes get the feeling that DeKalb takes all the input & feedback it gathers from its countless public & community meetings & surveys & the like, & boxes it up & stores it away like the end of “Indian Jones” – although I think they’d need a bigger place.
Keeping CCHS students respectable and bringing in any new students to the CCHS family very important
Bill, The administration listens to the community and factors it into their decision. They then make a decision that may or may not be the most popular decision. I’m guessing that for the most part it’s what they were going to do to begin with … like Doraville HS vs the building additions.
I am new to the district and all of you comments and feedback are very helpful. I am a bit concerned about the redistricting. We moved here specifically for the Chamblee Schools.
Thanks!
Vivian – Where did you move from? Because well, I’m not sure who sold you that bill of goods that Chamblee Schools were this oasis, but you might have been duped…