DeKalb: Need to close more than 4 schools

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County might have to close more than four schools this year, and as many as a dozen over the next two years if not sooner.

On Wednesday, the school board’s budget committee said the district must consider increasing the number of schools it shuts down at the end of this school year because of a rising budget deficit.

The school system shouldn’t delay those decisions and needs to look at the enrollments of all 147 schools now, board member Don McChesney said.

“If it’s obvious we have more than four that would be slam dunks next year, why not do it now? We just prolong our agony,” McChesney told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

DeKalb is facing an anticipated $88 million deficit, but that shortfall could rise to as much as $115 million, board members said. The district has 29 schools with low enrollments. Each closed school could save the district between $500,000 to $1 million.

“There were as many as 10, maybe 12, schools that we were looking at consolidating with others,” confirmed board member H. Paul Womack, chair of the board’s budget committee.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of parents filled a school cafeteria, upset over four proposed school closures made public. Many were angry the schools on the list were all in south DeKalb.

“We can not walk away from our responsibility no matter how distasteful it may be,” McChesney said. “We really need to get on it. It’s got to be done and it’s got to be done now.”

Members of the Citizens Planning Task Force, which is charged with making a school closure recommendation, said on Tuesday they didn't have enough time to make a decision. The 20-member task force, asked to finalize a plan by mid-April, said it might be better to hold off on the closures.

Board members didn’t like that suggestion. “If you all can’t do it, this committee will make the recommendation,” Womack said. “We’ve tried to be transparent by involving citizens of DeKalb County.”

Eleza Vaughn, who has children in kindergarten and fifth grade at Midway Elementary, said she understands that some schools must close to help meet the deficit. Her school is one of seven included in scenarios for possible closure. Vaughn, however, doesn't understand why the district plans to keep those vacant buildings. The district could profit by selling those properties, along with saving money on maintenance, she said.

“I understand we have to make sacrifices and I’m willing to close schools if they look at cutting everything,” she said. “I want to see them hurt as much as I’m sitting here suffering. I only see a budget that affects teachers and students.”

The schools will sit empty until the real estate market changes, Womack said.

With 101,000 students, DeKalb is the third-largest district in Georgia, but it has more buildings than any other school system. The district built dozens of schools in the 1950s based on neighborhood boundaries rather than on major thoroughfares, McChesney said.

“We were set up to cater to the local community, but we can no longer do that,” he said. “Our dilemma is the small schools are all located in one area. It’s not about north vs. south. You can’t deny the numbers.”

Many schools have well under the 450 students recommended by the state, which means less money from the state, McChesney said.

In addition to closing schools, board members are looking at slashing magnet and theme schools, along with other programs. Proposals also call for seven furlough days for teachers and staff, reducing 261 paraprofessionals and laying off 154 central office workers.

On Wednesday, 11th-grader Amber Worthy urged the board to spare the DeKalb Early College Academy from cutbacks. Through the Stone Mountain program, the 16-year-old said she is now attending classes at Georgia Perimeter College.

“If DECA is closed, my grades would be affected right now,” said Worthy, who has a 3.88 grade point average. “I don’t want it to mess up me being valedictorian or graduating with my class. I don’t want my peers to not finish my high school year together.”

Yet programs must be slashed to meet the deficit, McChesney said. The only other option is to raise property taxes.

“Coming from a day where there were no programs, I think we’ve gotten program-crazy,” said McChesney, a former teacher. “We think the program is the answer. But the answer is the teacher and the student. That’s what makes a good education.”

In addition to reducing Worthy’s program, the board is looking at cutting the magnet programs at Columbia Middle, Columbia High, Evansdale Elementary and Clifton Elementary.

“What we’re talking about is painful to you, but it’s no less painful to us,” Womack said.

What's next:

The DeKalb School Board is scheduled to adopt a tentative budget April 12 with final approval scheduled for May 10.

The DeKalb Citizens Planning Task Force has called meetings for March 16 and April 13 to discuss school closures. Public hearings will be held May 6 and 11, and the school board will vote on closures on May 14.