DeKalb County releases new proposals to deal with overcrowded schools

The DeKalb County School District this week released its latest proposal for reducing overcrowding in schools in the northern part of the district and is seeking community feedback.

The four new options explore the pros and cons of establishing a middle school to serve the Cross Keys cluster. The area does not currently have one, and an earlier proposal suggested converting Cross Keys High into a sixth- through 12th-grade campus. But support for a middle school in the area made it the focus of the latest round of proposals.

The school board is expected to make a decision about how to proceed in December, with changes going into effect as early as fall 2027. Several options would require DeKalb to spend millions of dollars in capital costs to make the necessary changes to the schools.

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The four new options are the latest step in the district’s Student Assignment Project — under which DeKalb could close schools, change attendance boundaries, change which grades are served at a campus or change which academic programs are housed at which schools. The state’s third-largest district has close to 20,000 vacant student seats across its schools, which means it’s not operating as efficiently as it could be to both save money and provide resources to the most students, district officials say.

In the spring, the district released a possible plan that would have closed more than two dozen schools throughout the county. But it hit pause after significant community pushback.

Starting in August, it shifted its focus to just the overcrowded schools in the northern portion of the county. The district is planning to open several schools in the area starting in 2027, meaning attendance zone changes in the area are already necessary. The overcrowded schools are those in the Lakeside, Cross Keys, Chamblee, Tucker, Dunwoody and Druid Hills clusters.

The latest proposals

The district released four new options to address the overcrowding. Each would require boundary changes for elementary and middle schools, which can be explored here. Each would also require a facility in the Nancy Creek area to create a dual campus for Montgomery Elementary.

• Option A: This option would not add a middle school in the Cross Keys cluster, and would require split feeds from five elementary schools (meaning students from one elementary school may be zoned for multiple middle schools). This option would not remove any elementary school seats, but converts Oakcliff Theme School, which is currently a school choice program, to a zoned neighborhood elementary school. It would move the high achievers magnet program to Henderson Middle. This option would not require any capital improvement costs.

The next three options would all require converting an elementary school into a middle school. Each would maintain one-to-one feeder patterns in all clusters (meaning students in an elementary school will all be zoned for the same middle school). These options would also leave Oakcliff Theme School as-is. Though each could be done by the 2027-2028 school year, they would require future funding to update the campuses and would add to the district’s existing surplus of middle school seats.

• Option B: Convert Woodward Elementary into a middle school. This would remove roughly 700 elementary seats and move the high achievers magnet program to Henderson Middle and Cross Keys High. This would require an estimated $60-100 million in capital improvement costs to make Woodward Elementary into an adequate middle school.
• Option C: This option would convert John Lewis Elementary into a middle school. It would remove roughly 1,000 elementary seats and would keep the high achievers magnet program at Chamblee Middle and High. It would require an estimated $10-15 million in capital improvement costs.
• Option D: Convert Dresden Elementary into a middle school. This would remove 900 elementary seats and would keep the high achievers magnet program at Chamblee Middle and High. It would require an estimated $10-15 million in capital improvement costs.

What’s next?

The district plans to do a fourth round of community engagement after updating its recommendations in December. After that, the superintendent will make a recommendation to the school board, which will vote on any changes.

Changes to elementary and middle attendance zones will go into effect in fall 2027. District policy allows rising fifth, eighth, 11th and 12th graders to request to remain at their current school. High school changes will likely go into effect in fall 2029.