If DeKalb County approves a proposed school redistricting plan, Kelly Thanes said her sons, 10 and 8, will have attended three different elementary schools in the six years since she moved into her Dunwoody home.
On Tuesday night, Thanes and 61 other parents went before the school board to ask for a change to the plan, which is up for a vote next week. The proposal will close eight schools and move 9,000 students -- about 9 percent of the district's total enrollment. The district said the changes are necessary and will free up about $12.4 million each year.
But most speakers at Tuesday night's public hearing had different ideas about where the lines should be drawn.
"I have no clear understanding of why my neighborhood has a gigantic target on it to help this board streamline finances," said Lynn Thompson, who lives in the Avondale area where the middle and high schools are slated to close.
DeKalb's interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson proposed the plan to make better use of the district's facilities by decreasing the number of empty seats in schools by 5,125. The savings will come from staff reductions, utilities and state funding that has been lost in past years because several schools had low enrollments.
The plan is less aggressive than a previous version that called for the closing of 14 schools that would have moved 15,000 students and saved the district $15 million annually. In February, the district released the current plan after hearing thousands of complaints from parents.
Tuesday night's hearing drew a near capacity crowd with more than 100 parents and students attending. Each speaker had 90 seconds to address the board. Chairman Tom Bowen said the district will review the concerns presented by the public to make sure no major areas were overlooked.
"We're going to continue the process," Bowen said. "The district is going to pay attention to redistricting a lot closer so that we have smaller more frequent changes as opposed to larger changes."
Many speakers at the hearing accused the board of pandering to the interest of parents in affluent north DeKalb neighborhoods, while targeting schools in the south. However neighborhoods in south DeKalb are some of the hardest hit by foreclosures.
"This is associated with a particular side of town, the southwest corridor, that you seem to feel you can turn to a field of vacant buildings," parent Loreen Booker Brown said.
Jim McMahan used his block of time to thank the board for its handling of the rezoning process, which drew groans from other attendants.
"It's been a difficult process, and I commend you all on the task you've undertaken and look forward to the public being part of the communication process in future decisions," he said.
Public hearings are the final phase of the redistricting process. Another hearing will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the district's headquarters, 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd., Stone Mountain. The board is scheduled to vote on the plan on Monday night.
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