DeKalb County school officials changed course Friday, saying the DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts would move into the old Avondale Middle School building alone, not sharing the building with Smoke Rise Elementary.
“Upon further assessment, including information presented at a recent community meeting, I have decided to correct an earlier decision and move DESA to the Avondale facility and not include any other school,” Superintendent Steve Green said Friday in a statement. “While the easy, simple operational decision would have been to co-locate Smoke Rise Elementary School with DESA, moral, ethical considerations outweighed this choice.
“It came to my attention that unkept promises had been made to DESA students and parents over the past few years. This is not acceptable.”
DESA parents had been told during meetings Tuesday and Wednesday that they would be moving into the building promised to them years ago, in December, and that Smoke Rise would join them next August for about two years while a new building was constructed for Smoke Rise. DESA parents complained about the district’s communication. Among their concerns was that their move into the building was delayed as Fernbank Elementary School was relocated to the site while its new building was being built, and Smoke Rise officials knew of the move in May, while DESA parents found out this week.
“Going forward, we are looking at several alternatives for housing the Smoke Rise students in a safe, accessible, quality learning environment while their new school is being built,” Green said.
Parents were elated with the news.
“This decision will provide adequate space and opportunity for our program to grow as (our) principal continues to lead us to having a premier fine arts school with stellar academic outcomes,” said J.R. Henderson with the DESA Parent/Teacher Association.
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