Category Archives: Trailers

Another Cover Up in Dunwoody

Posted on May 4, 2017 by | 3 comments

As discussed in yesterday’s post, Enforcing Zoning, Building, and Other Ordinances, DeKalb Schools’ Chief Legal Officer says, “GDOE guidelines provide that temporary educational facilities must meet all applicable state and local building codes and must have a separate certificate of occupancy for each building.”
Unfortunately, hundreds of students across the county are currently sitting in non-inspected trailers. The City of Dunwoody can’t provide a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for most of the portable classrooms currently in Dunwoody.
Cities need to enforce their ordinances/code, regarding building, plumbing, electrical, land disturbance, storm water, etc. for any building activity on property owned by the school district or county, within the city. The court explicitly stated, in City of Decatur vs. DeKalb County, that within a city, only the city is imbued with the powers to enforce such things.


Portable classrooms in Dunwoody not inspected

Robert Miller began looking into the overcrowding issue a decade ago when his children were forced to learn in trailers. He was interviewed by CBS 46 in the news story “Portable classrooms in Dunwoody not inspected”
“We don’t know how old the trailers are, we don’t know where they came from,” Miller said. “When you look at the city of Dunwoody code, they don’t even allow temporary trailers. You can only have temporary trailers connected to a building permit.”
With his permission, I’m reposting some thoughts Robert Miller recently shared on Facebook.

Rober Miller
Dunwoody Parent

Another cover up in Dunwoody! The School Administration quietly cut down specimen trees and quietly installed non-permitted trailers, while the City Staff quietly sat by and watched because they only permit, inspect and fine if they can collect money. Now they are both quietly having meetings to work out a cooperative deal!
Have you been warned, threatened or fined by the City? Did you get to have a beneficial meeting with the city and work out a deal?
If the City was committed to protecting the citizens then they would equally and fairly enforce city ordnances with all partners, businesses and other governments. Not just the ones that pay for permits and fines!
The Dekalb County School administration is not following the State requirement of getting a certificate of occupancy for trailers used as classrooms. And the City of Dunwoody staff is not enforcing the city’s temporary trailer and tree ordnances. Is the city staff lazy or do they only enforce life safety issues when they get paid?
The Mayor and city council’s job is to establish the code AND hold the staff accountable for enforcing the code.
I am sick of the incompetence!
School Administrators DO YOUR JOB!
School Board HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!
City Staff DO YOUR JOB!
Mayor and Council HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Related Posts

Enforcing Zoning, Building, and Other Ordinances
May 3, 2017 – What authority does a city or county have in enforcing its zoning, building, and other ordinances with respect to temporary and permanent building on school property? This question with respect to zoning and all other ordinances became settled law with the rulings for two court cases.

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Open Letter to Mayor, Council Members, and City of Dunwoody staff – Enforcement of city ordinances/code
April 12, 2017 – I am writing to address a concern I have regarding recent correspondence about the city’s process for permitting and inspections for compliance with city ordinances; specifically as they relate to other governmental entities operating within the city’s boundaries.

3 Comments

Posted in Dunwoody High School, Trailers

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Round 3 – Secondary School Facility Planning And Feasibility Study

Posted on August 25, 2016 by | 32 comments

Round 3 Public Meetings
•  Tues, Aug 23 @ 6:30pm in the auditorium at Clarkston HS
•  Thurs, Aug 25 @ 6:30pm in the gymnasium at Cross Keys HS


Stan Jester
DeKalb County
Board Of Education

Note: After Thursday’s Round 3 presentation, the district will be collecting more input. In accordance with state law, School Councils shall provide advice and recommendations to the board of education and superintendent. The biggest voice, as described in the School Council Fact Sheet, will come from a complete cluster or region of school councils that come together with one resolution.
I encourage everybody to reach out and discuss these options with your school council. I encourage the school councils to come together and agree on and each pass congruent resolutions with their advice and recommendations on these options.

Superintendent Stephen Green

Dr. Stephen Green
Superintendent, DeKalb County School District

“We believe that our school councils are very important to the decision-making process within the District. So much so, we are asking for our school councils from the middle and high schools within each cluster to come together and develop a joint letter (with signatures of the school council chairs) to the Chief Operations Officer detailing their viewpoints on the three options or another option they may proposed by September 16th. In the event a school council has not been established for the 2016-2017 school year, the PTA will be encouraged to develop a letter in response to the proposed options.
The District will be sending out communication to the middle and high school clusters by the end of the week requesting this formal input. In that communication, we will also be encouraging one or more clusters to come together and develop a multi-cluster response, if possible. The collaborative formal response from multiple school clusters will provide invaluable insight and will greatly enhance our stakeholder engagement process.”

 
 
Meeting Documents
.pdf link icon  Options Handout
.pdf link icon  PowerPoint Presentation (Aug 23 and 25, 2016)
.pdf link icon  Online Survey on Three Options (Aug 23 – Sep 16)
.pdf link icon  Option B: Assumed Middle School to High School Feeder Configuration
.pdf link icon  Option C: Magnet Student Move Assumptions
What is the Secondary School Facility Planning & Feasibility Study?
A study based on public input on how to address overcrowding in middle and high schools. The scope of the study was later expanded to include renovation and capacity recommendations for middle and high school facilities in all regions. Recommendations from this study will be incorporated into the Building S.P.A.C.E.S. Master Planning Initiative for the development of the 2017-2022 E-SPLOST V project list.
SUMMARY of Round 3 Proposed Options

Option A Re-cluster existing Cross Keys Cluster (Add New Sequoyah Area Cluster)
• New Sequoyah Area High School (at future site) + New Cross Keys Area Middle School at Briarcliff site
• Additions at five existing secondary schools
• Total New/Additions: 4,200 HS + 2,300 MS = 6,500 seats
• No split feeders (maintains 1-to-1 MS-to-HS alignment)
• Dependent on significant land acquisition for new high school
Option B Re-cluster existing Cross Keys Cluster (Using 18 existing clusters and split feeders)
• New Cross Keys High School at Briarcliff site
• Additions at five existing secondary schools + conversion of HS to MS
• Total New/Additions: 3,450 HS + 1,500 MS = 4,950 seats
• Split feeders in Regions 1, 2, & 3
Option C Re-cluster existing Cross Keys Cluster (Add New Sequoyah Area Cluster)
+ Relocate Chamblee Magnets
• New Sequoyah Area High School + New Cross Keys Area Middle School at Briarcliff site
• Relocate magnet programs to school(s) with available capacity
• Additions at five existing secondary schools
• Total New/Additions: 3,800 HS + 2,050 MS = 5,850 seats
• No split feeders (maintains 1-to-1 MS-to-HS alignment)
• Dependent on significant land acquisition for new high school

IMPACT of Round 3 Proposed Options

NEW/REPLACEMENT SCHOOLS ADDITIONS TO EXISTING
SCHOOLS		 Split Feeders Cost
Option A New 2,400-seat high school in Sequoyah area
 
New 1,400-seat middle school for Cross Keys at Briarcliff site 		1. 600-seat Cross Keys HS
2. 500-seat Sequoyah MS
3. 400-seat Lakeside HS
4. 800-seat Clarkston HS
5. 400-seat Freedom MS 		None $247 Million (includes land)
Option B New 2,500-seat Cross Keys HS at Briarcliff site (Convert current CKHS to 1,500-seat middle school) 1. 600-seat Chamblee HS
2. 600-seat Dunwoody HS
3. 750-seat Lakeside HS
4. 300-seat Clarkston HS
5. 200-seat at former CKHS 		Multiple schools in Regions 1, 2, & 3 $163 Million
Option C New 2,000-seat high school in Sequoyah area
 
1,400-seat middle school for Cross Keys at Briarcliff site		 1. 600-seat Cross Keys HS
2. 250-seat Sequoyah MS
3. 400-seat Lakeside HS
4. 800-seat Clarkston HS
5. 400-seat Freedom MS 		None $224 Million
(includes land)

Timeline
Aug 23 – Sep 16, 2016:
• Online Survey on three Options
• Request for Cluster-level joint formal school council response
Sep 27, 2016
• Present the Secondary School Study final recommendation at the Building SPACES Presentation
Oct 4 – 17, 2016
Five public hearings in October to discuss the E-SPLOST V project draft list.
The draft list, compiled through the Building S.P.A.C.E.S. Initiative, will be publicly presented Sept. 27.
Each public hearing will be at 7 p.m. at the following locations:
• Oct. 4, 2016 at Tucker High School (Region 2)
• Oct. 11, 2016 at Miller Grove High School (Region 4)
• Oct. 13, 2016 at Chamblee High School (Region 1)
• Oct. 17, 2016 at Columbia High School (Region 5)
• Oct. 18, 2016 at Stone Mountain High School (Region 3)
Oct 4 – 24, 2016
• Online Survey on draft E-SPLOST project list
Nov 7, 2016
• Board COW discussion on E-SPLOST project list
Dec 5, 2016
• Formal Board approval of E-SPLOST project list

Chamblee Magnet Moving? It’s Still On The Table
August 10, 2016 – Is the option to move the Chamblee Magnet Program still on the table? Superintendent Green refutes any communications saying it’s off the table.

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.

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Posted in Cross Keys Cluster, School Council, SPLOST, Trailers