About 1,600 students will be shuffled to new schools to alleviate overcrowding in the Cross Keys cluster of schools, DeKalb County Schools officials said Monday.
Joshua Williams, the district’s chief operations officer, said long-term plans call for building two new elementary schools, among other things, for the area. Initial plans called for establishing third- and fourth-grade academies and shipping students to other schools in the cluster that are not at capacity.
“After listening to 1,400 comments from 1,900 participants (at public hearings) since September 2015,” Williams said, “the call for redistricting was heard loud and clear.”
The public had more say as recently as February, when some people worried that part of the redistricting plan would further overcrowd other schools.
The numbers tell the story of the Cross Keys Cluster, six schools populated mostly with minority students whose primary language is anything but English. It consists of Woodward, Montclair, Dresden and Cary Reynolds elementary schools, Sequoyah Middle and Cross Keys High. The schools have a capacity for 5,700 students, but more than 7,500 are enrolled.
More than 100 portable classrooms are used to pick up the overflow.
Changes in the immediate future, Williams said, include:
•moving 61 students from Woodward Elementary to Briar Vista Elementary
•moving 269 students from Montclair Elementary School to Fernbank
•moving 394 students from from Montclair to former international students student center
•moving 444 students from Dresden Elementary School to Montclair
•moving 301 students from Cary Reynolds to Dresden
•moving 232 students from Cross Keys High to Chamblee High
Williams said the moves would result in a reduction of about 30 portable classrooms, and go into effect on July 1.
“Simply doing nothing and maintaining the status quo is not an acceptable option given the current and future overcrowding concerns we’re facing in this area,” he said.
The district is seeking about $500 million for various security, renovation and technology improvements, among other things through the ESPLOST V. The matter will go before the public during May’s primary election on May 24.
The board is expected to approve the ESPLOST plan at its meeting Monday. Public hearings will take place in July and September, and the board plans to approve a detailed list of projects in December.
School superintendent Steve Green, who has been an advocate for public input on the Cross Keys Cluster overcrowding since he took over the top job last July, was appreciative of the plan’s final look after so much debate. “The board’s decision to support our recommendations is a vitally important step toward accelerating our efforts to address the overcrowding in the Cross Keys Cluster. Addressing this situation is a moral imperative for the DeKalb County School District,” he said. “Addressing this situation also sets the stage for our efforts to handle our student growth across the district. Phases two and three of this process will be forthcoming.”
About the Author
