Author Archives: Stan Jester

The Secondary School Facility Planning and Feasibility Study is now in its third round of public engagement sessions.

  Chamblee Magnet Program – District Options Developed To Address Capacity Needs
Round 3
Based on feedback from the five Regional Steering Committee meetings, these three options will be combined and/or refined to create recommendations/options to be presented at two public meetings scheduled to take place on

• Tuesday, August 23rd at Clarkston HS auditorium at 6:30 pm
• Thursday, August 25th at Cross Keys HS gymnasium at 6:30 pm.

There will also be an online survey to provide feedback on the recommendations/options presented at these meetings available at: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/secondaryschoolfacilitystudy/.
Recommendations from this study will be incorporated into the District’s Building S.P.A.C.E.S (Master Planning) Initiative and the proposed 2017-2022 E-SPLOST project list, which will be discussed in public meetings in Sep-tember 2016.
The Problem


Three Options Developed To Address Capacity Needs

•  Option 1: New Cluster Approach
Construct a new high school to be paired with Sequoyah MS and a new middle school to be paired with Cross Keys HS. Classroom additions at Lakeside HS and Clarkston HS will also be needed as well as localized attendance line adjustments to balance enrollment.
•  Option 2: Expand Existing Capacity
Construct classroom additions at: Chamblee HS, Chamblee MS, Peachtree MS, Dunwoody HS, Cross Keys HS, Sequoyah MS, Lakeside HS, and Clarkston HS. No new schools would be constructed and localized attendance line adjustments would still be necessary to balance enrollment. This option included two variations:

1. Chamblee MS and Chamblee HS magnet programs remain in place
2. Chamblee MS and Chamblee HS magnet programs are relocated to other schools with available capacity. (AKA “Shutdown Chamblee MS/HS Magnet Program and create new HS/MS Magnet Program in Southwest DeKalb cluster Plan)

•  Option 3: Utilize Existing Capacity
This option focused on leveraging district-wide attendance line adjustments to relieve overcrowding. Under this option, the one-to-one middle to high school feeder pattern would be eliminated for all DeKalb middle and high schools and new attendance areas would be established for every middle and high school within the District. This option also includes the conversion of some middle and high schools into another configuration (e.g. middle to high or high to middle) and requires the construction of a new middle school and a classroom addition to Clarkston HS.
The Purpose – Planning and Feasibility Study
To develop long-term plans for addressing capacity needs of the district’s middle schools and high schools utilizing all available options including E-SPLOST funds.

Pros & Cons
Planning and Feasibility Study Options
July 25, 2016 – Committees consisting of steering committee members and two representatives from each of the forty middle and high schools studied and discussed these pros and cons of the four potential options to address current and pending capacity needs.

Cost Estimates
Planning and Feasibility Study Options
July 20, 2016 – Based on 2022 enrollment projections, the Steering Committee discussed these Cost Estimates for the four potential options to address current and pending capacity needs.

DeKalb Secondary School Facility Planning and Feasibility Study
July 18, 2016 – The study will identify the challenges and opportunities facing each middle school and high school, determine options to address the needs identified, and prepare regional master plans to implement the options. Here are the problems, the funds and the options.

Chamblee Magnet Program – Is it moving?
July 13, 2016 – Any truth to the rumor of moving the magnet program from Chamblee Middle and Chamblee High? Steering committees discussed the pros and cons of the following four potential options to address current and pending capacity needs.