Attention Neighbors:
There is a renewed conversation in the Dunwoody High School cluster to alleviate the overcrowding situation at Dunwoody HS with community members suggesting through various channels, potential solutions. Thursday night there will be an opportunity for you to add your voice to this important conversation.
With the new expanded Austin Elementary coming online in 2020 there will be community discussions in the Fall of 2019 on the redistricting of the elementary schools to alleviate some overcrowding at that level, but that elementary redistricting will not affect the numbers at Peachtree Middle or Dunwoody High without other more aggressive changes. The School System's construction mechanism for construction funding is bonds that have already been allocated to other projects and even those are possibly way behind schedule and over budget.
I expect Dr. Green to be questioned on the appropriateness of the planned Dunwoody High $17.7 million dollar expansion which currently includes a two-story, 29-classroom addition expected to be completed in 2022. One of the issues being raised is that even after the expansion of the high school with primarily just classrooms, the other facilities like the cafeteria, gyms, band rooms and athletic facilities are then woefully undersized.
Community members have floated various ideas to their school council leaders to alleviate the numbers slated for Dunwoody High and here are some of the ideas that I have heard in conversations or social media but I am unsure of the direction of the school system on this important topic. None of the topics below are easy fixes and I am sure that my list is only a small subset of the many options that could be on the table, therefore, I am interested in the community conversations to be had on Thursday on possible solutions. Possible ideas I have heard are ...
- pealing off the 9th grade and asking that the 17 million in funding now slated to Dunwoody High be pushed to Peachtree Middle and combined to the 14 million already slated to PCMS expansion for a 31 million dollar expansion project there?
- pealing off 9th grade and utilizing old Austin Elementary as a temporary 9th grade academy?
- start looking at the Vanderlyn property as an expansion of Dunwoody High?
- instead of construction at Dunwoody, start planning for a new high school in the Doraville area?
- finally, start the redistricting conversations for the high school cluster moving students into schools to our south?
Community invited to share thoughts at the "On The Scene with Dr. Green" event
STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. - The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) Superintendent/CEO Dr. R. Stephen Green invites all students, parents, staff, and stakeholders to the sixth "On The Scene with Dr. Green" event of the 2018-2019 school year on Thursday, March 14, 2019.
The event will begin promptly at 7 p.m. at Dunwoody High School, located at 5035 Vermack Road in Dunwoody. Dr. Green will give a brief statement about the state of DCSD before answering questions from the audience.
"On The Scene with Dr. Green" is an opportunity to learn more about your schools and to have your concerns addressed. Throughout the 2018-2019 school year, Dr. Green will visit seven total locations.
To learn more, visit www.dekalbschoolsga.org/on-the-scene.
WHAT: "On the Scene with Dr. Green" community conversation event
WHEN: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 14, 2019
WHERE: Dunwoody High School
5035 Vermack Road
Dunwoody, GA 30338
Thanks John. Here's hoping we have a great turnout tomorrow night to leave an impression with the superintendent. He needs to see, first hand, that the community is engaged and will not simply except what the DeKalb County School System puts out there.
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