A groundbreaking proposal that would put seven DeKalb County schools under one private management entity has been met with scores of skeptical questions from school district officials, who observed that the venture would take $29 million next year from district coffers.
Proponents of the Druid Hills Charter Cluster say they are only asking for the money their schools currently get and that they can do more with it. But the school district administration sounded dubious in a response to the proposal released on the district website this week.
For instance, DeKalb said the petitioners did not identify pre-kindergarten programs for the affected schools and that the petitioners want freshmen who need “additional supports” to be served by a county high school outside the cluster.
The petition “contains assertions and statements that raise questions of concern” about several things, including finances and academic performance, DeKalb said. Parts of the petition “need improvement or do not meet guideline requirements.”
The petition to put five traditional elementary schools, a middle school and the high school they feed — Druid Hills High — under one management organization independent of the district administration is the first in Georgia. If it is approved, others may follow.
The petitioners, led by Druid Hills High parent Matt Lewis, have until Oct. 29 to answer DeKalb’s questions, though they can ask for a 45-day extension. Lewis said Friday that he and his group can “absolutely” provide the answers. “No problem,” he said.
DeKalb raised several questions about equity. The district noted that a survey about the proposal was open to 482 employees and “only 82” responded — mostly at the high school, middle school and one elementary school, Fernbank, which has the smallest proportion of poor kids.
“What evidence exists to confirm a sufficient interest among faculty to support the proposed cluster?” DeKalb asked. Officials also asked for a “rationale” explaining why an independent cluster “would not have the potential of dividing the community in an adverse way” by race, nationality, neighborhood or disability.
DeKalb also asserted that a public vote by proponents before submitting their Aug. 16 petition “overwhelmingly underrepresented” parents. The district said parents of transfer students who live outside the cluster were not afforded a vote.
Lewis said that was false. “If you had an enrolled student, you got to vote,” he said.
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