Atlanta Public Schools plan is a blueprint for a better future

Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running a series of guest essays about APS Forward 2040, the long-range plan under discussion in Atlanta Public Schools to reshape its future. Here is the first of these essays:

For more than a century, Atlanta Public Schools has been a pillar of this city — reflecting its growth, its challenges and its aspirations. From the construction of early neighborhood schools to major district-wide facility decisions in the 2010s, APS has consistently adapted to meet the needs of Atlanta’s children. Each decade has brought new realities — shifts in housing, enrollment and expectations of public education.

Today, we face a challenge that is clear to see: We are a district currently built for more than 70,000 students, yet we get the privilege of serving a little under 50,000 students.

Through APS Forward 2040: Reshaping the Future of Education, we are charting a long-range vision to align our buildings, programs, and resources with both the students we serve today and the students who will enter APS in the decades ahead.

This is not a new conversation for our district. APS began comprehensive facilities planning over a decade ago to address aging buildings, underutilized campuses, and changing demographics. In 2012, APS closed and consolidated schools to realign boundaries. In 2019, we launched a new facilities planning process centered on data, fiscal responsibility and community voice. The pandemic paused that work — and taught us lessons about flexibility, resilience and what families need. Those lessons now guide this phase of our planning.

Erika Mitchell is chair of the Atlanta Board of Education. (Courtesy)

Why facilities planning matters

The Comprehensive Facilities Plan is more than a construction road map — it is a commitment to responsible stewardship.

Maintaining under-enrolled schools spreads funding thin and pulls dollars away from classrooms. To prevent this, we’ve cut about $70 million from central office operations in order to balance our budget. Rising costs are outpacing revenue, and continuing to maintain half-empty buildings will force deeper cuts. If we don’t act, our students will feel the impact. In order for us to have thriving schools in every part of our district — with strong programs, experienced teachers and student supports — we must realign our footprint for the future.

After months of analysis and engagement, APS has recommended scenarios that address three priorities:

● Operational efficiency: Invest taxpayer dollars in instruction and facility improvements — not buildings that are half full, and therefore not fully funded.

● Program enhancement: Expand high-demand offerings in areas where our students are both most interested and most naturally skilled (based on the YouScience aptitude test) — from STEAM and medical pathways to the Atlanta College and Career Academy and the School of the Arts.

● Equity and access: Ensure that a ZIP code does not determine the quality of a child’s learning environment.

As a board, we also carry a responsibility for fiscal stewardship. Our buildings, boundaries, and enrollment patterns directly drive operating costs, staffing levels, and what we can reinvest into students. Aligning facilities with enrollment allows us to redirect resources toward classrooms, teachers, and academic supports — not unused square footage.

This Comprehensive Facilities Plan aligns with the superintendent’s goals and the APS Strategic Plan — to ensure APS operates as an efficient, innovative, student-centered system that prepares every child for college, career, and life. Realigning schools is not just operational — it’s strategic. This is how we fund innovation, protect program excellence and ensure resources are spent where they matter most: on students and their opportunities.

What’s being considered

Among the scenarios now under consideration are recommendations to expand facilities in areas where student growth is projected — including additions in the Jackson, Midtown and North Atlanta feeder patterns — and to build a new elementary school on a currently unused district-owned site in the Douglass area. The district is also considering repurposing under-enrolled campuses into early learning centers or professional development hubs, while making necessary maintenance improvements to schools that will receive additional students, such as in the Therrell and Mays feeder patterns. Some areas — including Carver, Washington and South Atlanta — may see boundary realignments to balance enrollment and unlock dollars for deeper investments and expanded program access. These conversations are complex — but avoiding them would be fiscally and morally irresponsible.

Community voices matter

Throughout this process, transparency has been non-negotiable. APS has held at least 50 community and school-based meetings, collected more than 7,600 survey responses and responded to over 600 individual Let’s Talk messages. Parents have spoken about program quality, teachers have raised facility needs, and students have shared what opportunity looks like in their eyes. Their feedback has directly shaped the scenarios now under consideration. If this process has reinforced one truth, it is this: APS is stronger when we plan with our community, not for our community.

Moving forward together

Our plan is a pathway to reinvestment in the district: better facilities, stronger programming and more opportunity. It will expand early learning, strengthen high-demand career and college pathways, modernize our buildings, and direct more resources into teaching, learning and student supports. We can save up to $25 million per year in operating costs, avoid more than $65 million in future repair expenses, and create partnerships that defer maintenance costs in repurposed buildings. These savings will allow us to do what our community has asked us to do: pay teachers what they deserve, expand programming, invest in arts and workforce initiatives and deliver the excellence our students deserve.