Doraville United Redistricting – Round 3

DeKalb Schools is conducting Round 3 of the Doraville United Elementary School redistricting meetings tonight at Chamblee Charter High School @ 7pm. The third round objective is to collect community input on the option presented which is supposed to based on attendance zone criteria set in board policy.

The school administration will take feedback from this meeting and present a map to the board in January. The board will provide input and approve a redistricting map in February.

PUBLIC REDISTRICTING MEETINGS

Doraville United Elementary Public Redistricting Meetings – Chamblee Charter HS Auditorium (7:00 PM):
• Round 3 – Tuesday, November 19, 2019

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
  Capacity Utilization Movement Chart
  Recommended Map
  Detailed Map

LAND USE MAPS
  2018 – Land Use – Actual
  2021- Land Use – Projected
  2024- Land Use – Projected

2019 Enrollment Forecasts For Chamblee & Cross Keys Elementary Schools

MEETING
6:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sign in Lobby
7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Welcome and Overview Auditorium
7:40 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Small Group Facilitation Assigned Classrooms

Small Group Focus Questions
1. What are the pros and cons of the Staff Recommended Plan?
2. What other items relating to the Board-approved criteria should the Superintendent consider?

62 responses to “Doraville United Redistricting – Round 3

  1. I honestly think took the board took the ‘do not split up Sexton Woods’ message from parents and thought ‘screw em just move em all to Huntley Hills’
    What a joke.

    1
  2. My understanding is that the administration heard that a dozen students wasn’t going to help. I believe the school administration is trying to kick the can down the road until a new elementary school is built. The MES, APES and Huntley Hills school councils got together. They said if students have to go, then the clockwise shift is preferred. They did, however, request that Sexton Woods stay in tact and at MES.

    1
  3. Can someone please explain to me why Oakcliff is not included in the map? It seems silly to send Hightower all the way south, over 285, to Doraville United when Oakcliff literally touches the school zone and could provide better relief. Why is Oakcliff not a part of this discussion? Who decided that Oakcliff data should not be included in the most crowded area of Doraville. Even after the moves from Hightower, it will still be 38 seats over capacity. Please tell. Also, does this plan create a split feeder and can someone specify where?

    1
  4. Hello Curious. Oakcliff Theme School does not have an attendance zone to pull from. Hightower students would make for a split feeder and would go back to the Dunwoody cluster for middle and high school.

    1
  5. Stan, Why do we have to build a new school when we have two in the attendance zone already, Path Academy and Nancy Creek / Kittredge, that are not serving the neighborhood? I know we have many open HS seats but how do we stand at the ES level.

    1
  6. Hey PatW. Path is an independent charter and we can’t just kick them out. If we open Nancy Creek, then we’d have to relocate the students currently there or close it down. A number of board members have been pushing to find a suitable location for the high achievers magnet currently at Kittredge.

    1
  7. DSW2Contributor

    ^^^^ Curious, the question you should be asking is what exactly does Oakcliff do as a theme school that our other elementary schools don’t do?

    (The answer isn’t pretty.)

    1
  8. Stan, I don’t understand how Path is operated but it seems like it should be flexible to move. Are all their students DCSD kids or is it open to the state similar to BIA? When you look at the Montgomery and Ashford Park attendance zone it sure sits right in a sweet spot to alleviate overcrowding. BTW, when I look at the attendance map a Doraville HS sure makes sense. That idea ever surface ;-)!

    1
  9. Stan, last I heard, Oakcliff was only accepting students from Pleasantdale, Dresden, and Cary Reynolds, as they were all overcrowded. There are 145 Pleasantdale students attending there now that will be allowed to remain, yet the district wants to shift 170 from Evansdale into Pleasantdale, when it has students in its own zone that the county refuses to move. In all fairness, Oakcliff should be closed off to Pleasantdale and those students, except rising 5th, should move into their new Pleasantdale school that now has 300 extra seats to be filled. Oakcliff theme was opened to relieve overcrowding and that will no longer be the case at Pleasantdale. Additionally, Oakcliff should be open to accept Hightower students instead. In the new Doraville plan it will still be 38 seats over capacity and it is asking kids to cross over 285, when Oakcliff is right there in walking distance to the Hightower zone. Please bring up these points at the meeting. Also, the county is refusing to do a split feeder at Pleasantdale (Lakeside High) in regard to a good portion of Livsey (Tucker High) that almost literally touches the front door of Pleasantdale. Instead they want students from much further away, in Evansdale, which does not seem right when there are students that live less than .4 miles from the new entrance in Livsey. Also, the new Pleasantdale plan does nothing to balance the Lakeside elementary schools, which are more overcrowded in the south (i.e. Sagamore), so it is literally just about filling empty seats at a new school in a poor choice location. Which is ridiculous considering there are plenty of empty schools in the south of the county that they are not in a rush to fill. Why is this being allowed?

    1
  10. Maybe Oakcliff Theme School should go the way of Nancy Creek Theme School? I’m not familiar with the utilization of the schools in that cluster. If the surrounding schools are over capacity and most of the students attending Oakliff are from outside the local attendance zone, then it would make sense to return it back to serving local students. I’m also puzzled as to why there was no consideration given to returning Nancy Creek Theme School back to its neighborhood/cluster and relocating the magnet program to Doraville United. I haven’t heard a reason that makes sense. Instead of shifting students south, we could use current facilities to shift them north and east and address the overcrowding at Montgomery at the same time. If things are left unchanged, Montgomery is projected to be almost 300 kids over capacity next year (assuming original recorded capacity of 620 seats, DCSS conveniently shows it is 660 seats). This is a perfect opportunity to address overcrowding at local schools while avoiding a piecemeal approach to filling seats at Doravilled United.

    1
  11. Good Evening PSDad. Oakcliff Theme school currently serves students from the Pleasantdale, Dresden and Carry Reynolds attendance zones. Those are the attendance zones we are trying to alleviate the overcrowding in.

    There are some board members pushing to reopen Nancy Creek. The question is what to do with the students currently there. We would either have to find a suitable location to move the magnet or close it down.

    1
  12. @Pat W and Stan,
    PATH Academy is a fine charter school in Brookhaven. According to page 31 of their recent charter renewal petition (https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=4054&AID=1096229&MID=75271) they lease their building from Oglethorpe University, with a lease that is good through 2025.

    Maybe it used to be a DCSD school but it doesn’t look like it is anymore.

    Further, page 67 of their recent charter renewal petition states that they are looking at alternative facilities closer to the students they serve. The majority of PATH students live in Stone Mountain and Clarkston.

    Seems to me that DCSD would be wise to help PATH find a facility closer to Stone Mountain or Clarkston and see if Oglethorpe is willing to lease the building to DCSD. It’s not a big school but DCSD desperately needs capacity in this area.

    Seems like a no brainer to me. But this would mean that the DCSD Charter folks talk to the DCSD Operations folks. Nope, it’ll never happen.

    1
  13. Stan, thanks for the response. From your response and that of Curious, it appears that Oakliff is already being used to relieve overcrowding at nearby schools, so there’s no sense in making dramatic changes there. As for Kittredge, I assume that this would be a great opportunity to relocate the Magnet program to the Doraville United facility. The High School and Middle Schol Magnet programs don’t have dedicated facilities, so that shouldn’t be a significant factor for consideration. Most of the kids at Kittredge already commute from all over the county, so the whole discussion about relocating kids out of their neighborhood schools is diminished. I’m sure some of the families that are close to the current facility will be disappointed, but there should be an equal number of families that find it more convenient. It would also alleviate a lot of traffic through the neighborhood which already suffers from significant cut through congestion during rush hour.

    1
  14. So, does anyone know exactly how many German Immersion students are at Ashford Park, and how many Montessori students at Huntley Hills? Every time areas in these schools are proposed for redistricting, the response is always not all kids will be moved, likely about half. It doesn’t seem that the administration is accounting for this in their proposed numbers, so the whole process is actually skewed. My other observation (much like that about Kittredge and even the Chamblee magnet) is that our overcrowded schools, clusters and region do not have space for choice programs any longer, and I believe the administration should be evaluating the validity of them remaining in our area until real relief happens. Sounds like the same can be said for Oakcliff. From an outside observer, the German Immersion program at AP certainly hasn’t helped that school’s overcrowding problem, and I would argue that it has actually made it worse. I plan on sending e-mails to the interim Superintendent and BOE members regarding this issue.

    1
  15. @Survey Says – in the discussion room I was in at CCHS last night an APES parent said more than half of the 43 APES kids are in immersion and the county numbers include kids who go to private school so very few would actually move.

    1
  16. Yep, same here. Frustrating at best, and problems don’t get solved without full disclosure about what’s really happening within these schools and programs. My impression is that they’re hoping to fly under the radar, but that certainly doesn’t help us holistically solve the cluster overcrowding problems we’re faced with.

    1
  17. Hey Stan, do you know why (if so few numbers were impacted from the first two AP suggested areas), that G1 (Richwood/Wayland…. the island in yellow) was then pulled over at the last minute? Our numbers are just as small (10 kids potentially enrolling 2020, 4 of who are in German and won’t have to move….this would move 6 kids total. In 2021, our numbers (with German accounted for) would move 7 kids total. How does this alleviate AP crowding? Why were we singled out and pulled over and away from our neighborhood (Drew Valley)? Why was this done so quietly at the very end? Why were the maps released later in the day with such little time to respond? Isn’t a principle of redistricting to not split neighborhoods? This is devastating our 2 streets on multiple levels. We are working on 5 year projections now. The numbers they have are totally inaccurate. With siblings being able to also go to AP for German, our numbers will not change significantly. This has minimal impact on their goals and maximal disruption for us.

    1
  18. I think the school administration is trying to find some relief for APES. The 7 year enrollment picture for APES is scary.

    1
  19. Why should our numbers change? Why would any new family move onto our little circle when they can go 1 street over in literally any direction and still attend AP? This island make zero sense.

    1
  20. I know they need relief but is less than 10 kids helpful to anyone? In my opinion, they need to wait on this and breaking up our neighborhood and community. Us being singled out alone like this for no impact is very disappointing.

    1
  21. Even with these moves, APES will be at 148% capacity in a couple years.

    Question 1: Do you believe something has to be done to help alleviate overcrowding at APES?

    Question 2: If the answer to Question 1 is YES, then what’s the plan? In the absence of opening Nancy Creek anytime in the near future, who goes where?

    1
  22. Leave communities together until larger shifts can be accommodated.

    1
  23. Brittany, Your recommendation is to move more students from APES to John Lewis?

    1
  24. The other AP areas being “too small to move” should also apply to us because we are the same size.

    1
  25. My recommendation is to quit slapping bandaid fixes that do nothing. To formulate a comprehensive plan to better solve the problem. To not target a tiny area that does nothing to help and only disrupts less than 10 families severely. We are formulating suggestions as a community which will be shared.

    1
  26. What about losing the German Immersion program so more AP kids can be moved in these proposed boundaries? It always goes back the the GI program being the reason not enough kids are moved.

    1
  27. @Survey Says. The German program is a unique school choice program. It is NOT like the magnet program where students are brought in to our district. It is pretty much filled by the Ashford Park attendance zone and has for many years. It is incredibly difficult for kids in the program as they are learning 2 languages. The benefits are not realized until 3rd grade and beyond. There are plenty of studies where it is actually beneficial to have siblings who are also speaking the language, thus the sibling preference. The only way a student is in the program that is outside the current APES attendance zone is that they started the program and then moved. They are able to continue at APES. It is not an easy program to start and the county has been committed to making it a viable program. I have 1 kid in and 1 kid not in. I definitely see a difference in the curriculum and learning, but both of my kids are doing great at APES and we love our community. I do get how it would be confusing as to why the German program gets brought up at all of these redistricting talks but it is a huge deal and a very successful program.

    1
  28. This is in response to Stan’s question #2. I think it’s clear now that MES/AP overcrowding needs to be solved by a new school or an existing school re-utilized (Kittredge). What other options are there to address the enrollment long term? I’m not seeing any others…

    1
  29. The more I think about it, the more I think this should have been done:
    -A larger portion of AP sent to JL. JL boundaries appear very Gerrymandered and not based on dekalb’s primary criteria of location.
    -A counter-clockwise shift if students from AP to JL and from MES to AP.
    -Fill up DU without dipping into Chamblee cluster.

    1
  30. Hey Stan, one thing I’m not clear on is how the Ashford Park “community” is defined. I was under the impression that “keeping the community together” was the primary reason given against redistricting until now. Is Ashford Park’s community supposed to include Brookhaven Village as well? How about the neighborhood to the north of Peachtree Rd?

    I’m also not clear on where the apartment complexes are coming in that will presumably be driving the majority of this growth. Are they coming in on Clairmont, Peachtree or Dresden?

    1
  31. I’m aware of how the AP German Immersion program works, and it certainly hasn’t helped solve the crisis level overcrowding at AP. In fact, I would argue that it’s perpetuated the problem. Also, doesn’t seem right to allow parents in that program to be insulated from redistricting. How can the administration be expected to accurately and effectively redistrict when so many GI kids get to “stay”? It seems pretty simple to me. Either lose the program altogether to level the playing field so DCSD can actually draw accurate redistricting maps, or if you’re in the proposed area to be moved, you go, regardless of whether your kid is in GI or not. Stan, is the administration looking into the effects of continuing programs like this in extremely overcrowded schools? We all know the smaller class sizes also reduce instructional capacity. It is clear that region 1 schools need every available school house and classroom and can no longer support “choice” programs on any level.

    1
  32. Hello AnonAp, You’d have to look at the projected “Land Use” maps …

    LAND USE MAPS
      2018 – Land Use – Actual
      2021- Land Use – Projected
      2024- Land Use – Projected

    1
  33. Thanks Stan. It looks like they’re projecting rapid growth in student population from existing single family houses. Area 1361 for example grows by 38 kids over a few years. Lots of Brookhaven village single family homes are apparently rapidly having several more children as we speak and you can see with 20419.

    I’m kind of wondering what the basis for these projections were. Sure there are knockdowns in these neighborhoods but I don’t see how that accounts for the rapid growth.

    1
  34. Lose the Magnet

    Just like we need to blow up the magnet, we need to get rid of the stupid German immersion program at APES too. These programs are unfair and only benefit a few “selected” ones while everyone pays the same taxes. It also makes redistricting a royal pain in the ass.

    1
  35. @Survey Says. You obviously don’t really understand the program or you would know that it has been extremely popular and FULL. There are the same 30 kids in my son’s GI class as there are in my daughter’s class. That is only because they dropped a class this year in my daughter’s grade. She has had slightly smaller class sizes up until that point. It might be the reason for some of the overcrowding because it is so popular and families were moving into the attendance zone for the program. It is also great for a child’s learning. It does make it complicated for redistricting because it would be a travesty to have a kid work really hard for a couple years, track a little behind as their learning brains are soaking up 2 languages, to have them moved in the middle of their education and not see any of the benefits of being bilingual. So before you just deem it stupid, understand it is a great thing for these kids to have this opportunity, it doesn’t bring any kids from outside the APES attendance zone, and it does not have smaller class sizes or take up other seats. It simply alters the numbers when you look at them on a map and that would dwindle with redistricting. The magnet, however, brings kids from outside our district into our crazy crowded district. That seems to be a problem to me.

    1
  36. Dekalb county taxpayer

    I think this map looks less gerrymandered than the two previously proposed. At least the MES students get to go to HHES instead of DUES. The geographic boundaries appear to make more sense. I do think leaving DUES under enrolled is smart – there is so much current/slated development in that area. I agree that Kittredge needs to be moved and reopened for MES relief. Then APES students north of Peachtree could go back to MES.

    MES has to have relief – there is NO ROOM for extra trailers. APES still has room to add more trailers, though not an ideal option. I imagine HHES is a better option than DUES for MES parents.

    JLES should have taken all of Drew Valley last year. The lines for JLES are completely gerrymandered. It’s unfair to only take a small number of students from Drew Valley to JLES. JLES had a higher CCRPI this year than APES, and has potential to be the next “good” school in the area. It has the former APES principal at the helm.

    The intact neighborhood of Ashford Park (naturally bordered by Clairmont, Dresden, and Peachtree) should always be zoned for APES.

    I think if Dekalb School choice allowed the siblings not yet enrolled to follow their sibling in the program – this would be a good compromise for those being redistricted. I.e. a preK student with a sibling in Montessori at HHES would still have sibling preference; a GI younger sibling would still have sibling preference at APES even if redistricted out of the school attendance zone.

    Long term – I don’t think these school choice programs are helpful to the schools. It basically divides (aka segregates) the school population. You typically end up with the “involved, higher functioning” students in the school choice program and the students with less informed parents, IEPs, 504s, ESOL in the gen ed classes. This is in large part why these programs are so “popular”.

    Regardless, I do think this is the best map option proposed thus far. Dekalb should be in the practice of preserving, not dividing neighborhoods. When redistricting is necessary – entire neighborhoods should be moved, not split up to different attendance areas. Thank you Stan for listening to parental input and working on the best solution for all.

    1
  37. AP Dad, like I said in my earlier post, Region 1 can no longer support “choice” programs on any level, including the magnet. We simply don’t have enough capacity.

    1
  38. @Survey Says,
    No! Absolutely no!

    I am not willing for Region 1 students to lose school choice opportunities that all other regions have, just because the District failed miserably to provide capacity for an area that has been growing for years.

    52.8% of Region 1 students qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch.

    Are you saying that these economically disadvantaged students – not to mention the 47.2% who are not economically disadvantaged – shouldn’t have any school choice options just because the District failed miserably to provide capacity?

    Your statements sound like an attack on families in School Choice programs. This kind of response takes the focus off of the District’s failings and pits family against family.

    No! The District made this mess and the District must solve it while keeping educational options open to all students.

    1
  39. I propose we merge Emory and Georgia State to further level the playing field.

    1
  40. Any of the options that Dekalb presents still show gerrymandering and pandering to AP and Montgomery families.

    If they wanted to truly ‘buy once, cry once’ the redistricting map to make sure no school is excessively over capacity they’d have to do something similar to the below map.

    https://imgur.com/a/K3SNgPt

    Logically, we know:
    0) Yes, kids need to move, but kids move all the time and make new friends. They’re far more adaptable than you know.
    1) Huntley Hills is boxed in, for all the parents that like to drive their kids versus walk or riding the bus Admiral is the only decent access point. To avoid that bottleneck it’s best to avoid bringing in anyone West of Chamblee-Dunwoody and keep it a neighborhood school.
    2) Folks south of Silver Lake are always driving north and adding to the Ashford Dunwoody traffic — let’s send them south to AP
    3) South of Dresden? Go to John Lewis, it’s much closer and it will end the awkward gerrymandering going on down there and balances out the borders of Dresden, Montclair, and Woodward
    4) Stop using the German immersion program as an excuse to avoid redistricting.
    5) Taking away the trailers at Montgomery, even for a year, would allow a new wing to be built increasing capacity in the Northern suburbs.

    This arrangement leaves most schools in a better situation, and someone more clever than I could work the Woodward situation even more favorably:

    Montgomery: 138% -> 106%
    HH: 113% -> 90%
    AP: 156% -> 117%
    JL: 94% -> 95%
    CR: 131% -> 106%
    Doraville: 13% -> 75%
    Montclair: 92% -> 97%
    Woodward: 97% -> 119%
    Dresden: 136% -> 98%

    1
  41. @Anonymous, wrong….not an attack on school choice programs, as I actually have a child at Kittredge AND live in Region 1. Shocking, I know. And, guess what…..if Kittredge and the magnet get moved elsewhere someday, our family will reassess the situation and make a CHOICE about whether to stay in the program or not because being able to properly accommodate resident students should be top priority, with choice programs being secondary. Regardless of what the county has done wrong over the years (which is A LOT), I’m not okay with the notion that resident kids should be sent further away from their neighborhood schools so that students from outside (or even inside) the area can attend a choice school or program.

    1
  42. Anonymous,

    What school choice programs are in region 2? Don’t say DESA or DSA because both of them are in Avondale.

    What makes you think there is a magnet school in every region?

    Also, 52% Free and reduced lunch is the lowest percentage in the district. I don’t understand why you feel that is a statistic that helps your argument.

    1
  43. Kirk,
    According to the DCSD School Choice website, there are many School Choice programs in Region 2:
    Elementary = Evansdale Dual Language Immersion
    Fernbank IB
    Midvale IB
    Avondale IB
    Briar Vista Montessori
    Evansdale Magnet

    Middle = Druid Hills IB
    Tucker IB

    High = Druid Hills IB
    Tucker IB

    And actually, there is a Magnet school in every region except Region 4.

    Finally, some region has to have the lowest FRL %. Are you saying that because other regions have higher FRL levels that Region 1 shouldn’t have any School Choice Programs?

    I only included that statistic because I think that the general impression is that Region 1 is rich, with a much lower FRL percentage. Yes, the mean income level in Region 1 is higher but that is of little importance to the FRL family who lives in Region 1.

    I agree that the District has mismanaged School Choice programs just like it has mismanaged Planning and Operations. But School Choice students deserve more than a knee-jerk reaction of closing/moving these programs because the District failed to project enrollment accurately and failed to secure land and plan for the new schools that are needed.

    Maybe School Choice programs should be changed. I have never seen any sort of analysis of academic or other outcomes of School Choice students vs. those not in those programs.

    But let’s actually evaluate the programs, their locations, the rules, before the programs are closed down just because some are inconveniently located in a growing region. I doubt the folks in the regions with so many empty seats would want to close down their School Choice programs just because the District failed to properly plan for growth in Region 1.

    1
  44. @Jason Boylan – re the Montgomery cry baby parents, all they need to do is add more trailers next to the existing ones (take the remainder of the parking spaces) AND cut the huge fields in half and build a new wing that would fit 1000+ kids.

    1
  45. @Anonymous, what I stated earlier was “Region 1 can no longer support “choice” programs on any level, including the magnet. We simply don’t have enough capacity”. That is a much different statement than saying choice programs should be closed down altogether. You twisted my statement into something completely different.

    1
  46. @Survey Says,
    OK, I’m sorry that I didn’t understand that you only think Region 1 School Choice programs should end, but that it is fine to continue School Choice programs in other regions.

    I can’t agree.

    Stan’s blog includes this quote from Frederick Douglass:
    “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.”

    If DCSD concludes that the main reaction of Region 1 parents to overcrowding is that it’s fine to end Region 1 School Choice programs, then School Choice in Region 1 will end.

    Something similar may happen in the Dunwoody cluster with respect to athletic facilities. If DCSD concludes that inadequate athletic facilities will be brought up to par by the Dunwoody community and the City of Dunwoody, then they will conclude that District obligations for providing athletic facilities in Dunwoody have been met.

    I applaud the success of Dunwoody stakeholders to raise funds for athletic facilities. I applaud the City of Dunwoody for trying to provide practice space to Dunwoody High School athletes. It is truly remarkable.

    In the short term it’s great for the athletes. In the short term it’s great for students in trailers to be able to move inside a building and take the seats of former School Choice students.

    But in the long term, this just shows that Region 1 stakeholders are willing to accept a high level of incompetence from DCSD and a total lack of School Choice opportunities anywhere near their home.

    I guess this is just a difference in perspectives and priorities. I imagine that your perspective will win out, and that Region 1 families who wish to benefit from School Choice programs had better get used to long commutes.

    1
  47. @Anonymous, I had a feeling yours was a Dunwoody perspective. I’ve heard it many times in response to the proposed magnet move and it’s hard not to believe it comes from a convenience point of view more than anything else. Sorry about your potentially longer commute to your school of CHOICE.

    1
  48. Here we go again

    The hypocrisy is unreal! Wasn’t Dunwoody screaming for Oak Cliff Theme to be turned back into a traditional school so they could move Hightower kids over. That would be dissolving a school choice program. Interesting that it’s ok for people in school choice to not want to lose their programs but the rest of us common neighborhood folks are “brats” for not wanting to be redistricted out of our community. We ALL invest in our schools. Yes Dunwoody, people on this side of 285 also put in time and money to our schools! Time to realize that there is another part to region 1! Y’all have 2 new elementary schools. Chamblee cluster has only had one taken away. It is time to put on the brakes, move the magnet, and shift the lines with APES, MES, and HH.
    And yes, the GI program is an issue with capacity. Why do children who start but move get to stay? I know several families that don’t live there but are in program. Causes a problem if others who purchased house attend the school ‍♀️ Simple math. It’s time to stop these bandaid fixed and have some real solutions. The problem is so old, making it so severe that it can’t be fixed in one redistricting move. Good luck getting a corrupt system to do something right !

    1
  49. Lose the Magnet

    Anonymous – You’re clueless. You’re one of these Dunwoody entitled magnet parents who think the world revolves around their precious angel because he/she was a lottery winner. News flash – your kid is no more gifted or talented than any of the myriad of kids that have the scores but DON’T get their name selected out of a hat. But yet, we pay the same taxes as you. Why should you get the benefit? Do you pay more taxes? No, you don’t. Likewise, the kid that gets into the APES German Immersion program vs. the kid that is equally qualified, but doesn’t get selected.

    School CHOICE is a misnomer. Its only a choice if you really have a choice. For those that don’t get selected, there is no bleeping choice at all. So, let’s stop with all the bullshit, blow up the magnet and German immersion programs that are inherently unfair and biased and start anew. Make Nancy Creek a neighborhood school again. Get rid of German immersion altogether. Do you know where German ranks among World Languages in terms of number of people speaking it? 16th. That’s right. Its behind such well know languages as Bengali, Western Punjabi, Marathi, and Teluga. Why in God’s name is this even being offered? What a colossal waste of resources and time.

    Blow this shit up.

    1
  50. Lose the Magnet

    Here We Go –

    Its very simple – the Dunwoody people want to get rid of all the “undesirables” out of their middle schools and high school – therefore move Hightower. And they have “Dunwoody Stan” as their leader who will do as the Dunwoody minions wish. Stan provides lipservice to the Chamblee cluster. But we all know that he’s there to serve Dunwoody – if it comes down between Dunwoody and Chamblee, he knows where his bread is buttered. Certainly hoping that someone from the Chamblee district runs against him. And no, not the guy who announced already who is a lapdog for the county and the Cross Keys contingent. We need a Chamblee focused person.

    1
  51. @Survey Says,
    You see school choice program locations as matters of convenience. I see school choice program locations as a matter of fairness. In terms of fairness, I have no problem theoretically with housing the high school High Achiever Magnet program at the new Cross Keys High School.

    But I think it’s a dumb idea. I think it will have unintended consequences in terms of attracting more students from under-enrolled high schools and resulting in more students from Dunwoody and Tucker deciding that they just don’t want the longer commute. Dunwoody and Tucker are already overcrowded but hey, I’m sure they will be glad to squeeze “the smart kids” into their building.

    I also contend that this will be a new Magnet program rather than merely moving the program from Chamblee. It has been years since the District provided any extra funding or teacher points for the Magnet program. But stay tuned. I guess we’re about to find out what will happen.

    And, no, I am not from Dunwoody!

    @Here we go again,
    School Choice programs are administered by DCSD. That means DCSD makes the decision about whether the program exists, where it’s located, how students are chosen, everything!

    The German Immersion program at Ashford Park is a School Choice program. Students from all over the District can apply to be in this program.

    Once a student is accepted into any School Choice program they are permitted to stay in the program if they meet program continuation requirements. Where they live, as long as they live in the district, doesn’t matter.

    This is relevant because when Dan Drake tries to redistrict kids from an Ashford Park neighborhood, he knows the number of kids who attend Ashford Park. I doubt that he knows whether they are in the German Immersion program or not. If he says that 43 students will move from Ashford Park to some other school, but in reality almost all of those 43 students are in the German Immersion program which is housed at Ashford Park, then he has greatly overestimated the number of available seats in Ashford Park.

    I agree that real solutions are needed. School Choice programs probably should be adjusted. But it seems like DCSD is always rushing stakeholders and the BOE to make a decision. It’s a sad combination of corruption and incompetence.

    1
  52. Here we go again

    @Anonymous
    School choice about Fairness? Ok, then move Kittredge and the whole Magnet program to Avondale as they tried to do years ago? This would centrally locate the program for the whole county! What??!! This means more kids from “underpopulated” schools would apply?! It’s about fairness, right?! Yes, there is a Magnet program at Wadsworth but we all know from looking at scores that Kittredge is more desirable program. Too far for Dunwoody/Chamblee/Brookhaven kids? Funny, many other kids travel from the far south side for a great education, no complaints. This program doesn’t belong to region 1 or even region 2 (region 2 dying to have this program moved to CK). As Dunwoody has been screaming we are over crowded. Something has to give. When they move the Magnet maybe Dunwoody, and maybe even parts of Vanderlyn could move to Chamblee cluster for middle and high!!! Get your popcorn folks!!!

    1
  53. @Here we go again,
    You write “Yes, there is a Magnet program at Wadsworth but we all know from looking at scores that Kittredge is more desirable program.”

    Since this is a FactChecker blog, let’s check the 2019 CCRPI scores:
    Wadsworth = 98.3
    Kittredge = 98.9

    Enough said.

    1
  54. Here We GO Again

    CCRPI scores are junk. What are Milestone scores ?

    1
  55. @Here we go again,
    Surely you know that CCRPI scores are based heavily on Milestones scores.
    You can find the Milestones scores at http://ccrpi.gadoe.org/Reports/Views/Shared/_Layout.html.

    Content Mastery (which is MILESTONES results)
    Wadsworth ELA = 100+ for both Elementary and Middle School
    Kittredge ELA = 100+ for both Elementary and Middle School

    Wadsworth Math = 100+ for both Elementary and Middle School
    Kittredge Math = 100+ for both Elementary and Middle School

    Wadsworth Science = 100+
    Kittredge Science = 100+

    Wadsworth Social Studies = 97.93
    Kittredge Social Studies = 100+

    These are both excellent schools by any measure that you choose. Done.

    1
  56. Give Montgomery relief with re-opening of buildings/program shifts and movement clockwise, move the AP kids N of Peachtree back up North. All the kids S of Peachtree are closer to AP than they are. Moving them North is a comparable move as Montgomery is equally rated. Do not peel off a handful of kids from DV to save room for kids who could go North and clockwise. Leave the Dresden Corridor alone. AP and DV are one community. Neither has more of a “right” to AP than the other. Removing DV will only make core AP that much more exclusive and elitist. Remove the German program. Done.

    1
  57. Lose the Magnet

    I will repeat this fact. German is the 16th most common language in the world. Why does this county care so much about German? Deep Six it!

    1
  58. Germany is also the fourth biggest economy in the world and it’s probably a better place to work than Japan or China.

    1
  59. Can't teach some people

    Wow – It just goes to show how stupid Lose the Magnet is. There was an AJC article about an elem school teaching Korean. On the list of foreign owned companies, Korea was first. GERMANY was second. But why study a language with more than 100 companies represented in the Atlanta area alone?

    Go back to your hole.

    1
  60. Lose the Magnet

    Can’t Teach – why are we teaching our children the 16th most popular language? Teach them Spanish or Chinese or something they could use. So, I’ll tell you to go back to your hole and stop promoting a language whose biggest claim to fame is that it was used by the Nazis.

    1
  61. In the 1980’s, German businesses in Atlanta saw a need for increased German proficiency for businesses in Atlanta so they encouraged learning German. Austin ES set up a German instruction program. This worked well but was taken away about 8 years ago by Dekalb based on who knows what. Maybe due to Austin having something that no one else did so let’s take it away. When you speak with German language instructors, one can learn German proficiently starting in MS or starting in HS so who knows how helpful it was starting in ES. Knowing German allows one to work in companies in Germany, Austria, and Belgium, Switzerland. The economies in these countries are very strong. In terms of claim to fame: this country came close to making German the national language – I believe it lost by 1 vote. I didn’t know German but this is some background.

    1
  62. Brute Force Attack

    @Lose the Magnet – Why u mad? Why so butthurt about which language people choose to learn? Your logic says we should learn Telugu before German. Just like you, it took me a second to google the list to suddenly sound like I know what I’m talking about. Are you a subsidized renter stuck in one of the affected areas, waking up every morning angry at the world? Bless your heart. I will keep you in my prayers.

    1