Monthly Archives: January 2017

Please help me understand why this is good for anybody in the Chamblee Charter High School cluster community?

Chamblee Charter High School (CCHS) currently has 1,624 students enrolled. School district administration is currently predicting CCHS will have 2,328 students (518 students over current capacity) by year 2022. To address the capacity issues, the administration plans on constructing a 600-seat, three-story addition extending the current footprint and bringing the school to 120 classrooms with a 2,410 student capacity
The conceptual plan includes

• 116 space parking lot in front of school fronting Chamblee Dunwoody Rd
• Kitchen extension (984 sq/ft)
• Cafeteria extension (1,891 sq/ft)
• Media center expansion (2,647 sq/ft)
• 2 story employee parking garage

Stan Jester

How is this 600 seat building addition good for the existing Chamblee Charter HS community? Chamblee Charter HS Governing Board and Chamblee MS PTSA expressly don’t want it. I am opposed to this addition for the reasons below.
In the school district and board’s infinite wisdom, we are moving forward with this plan. Please help me understand why this is good for anybody in the CCHS cluster community? I suspect, like whatever support there is for the Dunwoody additions, any support for the CCHS building additions are driven by redistricting.

Guideline for Educational Facility Site Selection
This GA DOE Guideline for Educational Facility Site Selection applies to the existing sites on which a new educational facility will be constructed. In accordance with these guidelines, the minimum useable acreage requirements of the State Board of Education are 20 acres plus one acre for each 100 students in FTE for High School Facilities.
If the new capacity for CCHS is 2,400 students, then the total site acreage for this high school should be at least 44 acres.
However, the 2016 Chamblee Charter HS School Assessment Report says the school has a total area of 20.6 acres. The guidelines allow for a waiver or variance of the minimum useable acreage requirements. Unless DeKalb Schools plans on purchasing 20+ more acres, then DeKalb must get waivers for the GA DOE Educational Facility Site Selection guidelines.
Guideline for Square Footage Requirements for Educational Facilities
The Georgia Department of Education spells out the facilities square footage requirements in the Guideline for Square Footage Requirements for EducationalFacilities
FOOD SERVICE
Formula for Cafeteria Requirements:Middle and High School = Total FTE divided by 3.15 multiplied by 12
(FTE x 3.809). The bare minimum requirement for a school with a capacity of 2,400 students is 9,141 sq/ft. The conceptual plan has 9,610 sq/ft. While the cafeteria meets state standards, it won’t exceed the standards by as much as it does now. The added cafeteria space is not proportional to the added student capacity of the school. There is less cafeteria space per student.
Kitchen Requirements and all support areas for food service: Schools with more than 2,100 students require at least 4,200 sq/ft of kitchen and food service area. The conceptual plan has 5,306 sq/ft. Once again, while the conceptual plans for the kitchen addition meet state standards, the addition is not proportional to the added student capacity. There is less kitchen space per student.
MEDIA CENTER SQUARE FOOTAGE
The DOE guidelines require a minimum of 8,175 sq/ft for 2,400 students. The conceptual plan has 9,600 sq/ft. The conceptual plans are proportional to the new building addition.
HALLWAYS
Major high school facility corridors shall be at least 12 feet wide with an additional foot added for each width of lockers to be located in the corridor. The corridors already meet state standards and will not be adjusted. As the population grows to capacity, the students can expect to be packed in the hallways like sardines.
GYM – PHYSICAL EDUCATION
High schools must have a gym of at least 22,000 sq/ft. The size of the gym will not be adjusted. All problems with the current capacity of the gym will be exacerbated as the student population grows.
Traffic, City Code, Parking, etc…
The above list is not inclusive of all the reasons I object to this building addition.

Please help me understand why this is good for anybody in the existing CCHS cluster?
I’m still waiting to hear from anybody that has anything positive to say about the Dunwoody building additions. DHS school council, Dunwoody School Daze, the two ladies from Kingsley and Chesnut that wrote the board and senior administration regarding their concerns about my representation of the community, I challenge you all to tell me the positives that would come from the Dunwoody HS building additions that wouldn’t happen otherwise. –Stan

Furthermore, not only is it a bad idea once … the district plans to continue adding building additions to these schools every 5 years or so.
November 2016 FAQ
10. Why build to a utilization of 100% rather than adding additional capacity?
Rather than risk the cost of “overbuilding” by adding much more capacity than is needed, or “underbuilding” by building much less capacity than is needed, the District is recommending adding capacity as the forecast data indicates is needed. Our buildings will be designed so that, if warranted, we can add additional building capacity to accommodate future student capacity needs at each school where possible.

Related posts

Pros and Cons of adding 600 seats to Dunwoody HS
January 7, 2017 – Moving forward, I’m trying to understand the support for the building addition at Dunwoody High School.