Every DeKalb County Public School in Dunwoody has portable classroom trailers and when the new fourth & fifth grade school opens next year on Womack, many of those trailers will remain in place. I am seeing conflicting stories in the news regarding school funding, school closures and whether enrollment will be going up or
down. The DeKalb County School Board is thinking about
closing more schools and
increasing the busing distance to reduce costs. Now because of economic hardship it appears that many families who have sent their children off to private school in the past are deciding to return to the local public schools.
Today I read on the
DeKalb County School Watch blog that the newly built Arabia Mountain High School which was scheduled to be a neighborhood school as well as being able to accept transfers from other nearby "failing" schools has been modified to be Magnet or "Choice" school which wouldn't have to accept transfers from other schools. This change directly affects Dunwoody High School since it will still be a "receiving" school from students all over the county. If this is true, it sounds like a bait and switch to me in order to prepare a justification of the next SPLOST tax for Education.
Finally a school issue which will be affecting all of Dunwoody
(even if you do not have children in school) is the yet to be finalized busing plan for the new school. With elementary school children from all over Dunwoody going to this school and with a mix of K though 3 as well as the 4 & 5's on the same pick up route; it will be a logistical nightmare to work a feasible and efficient schedule for all involved.
On top of that, Dr. Crawford Lewis has proposed that
the walk zone be increased from 1 mile to 1.5 miles - as student safety and traffic conditions allow. I had my GIS software draw a
1.5 mile circle around the new school which is as the crow flies and then I mapped the walking distance from the school to my home, which measured
1.6 miles. Even if my fourth grader is offered a bus to the new school, we will have to decide if the logistical circumstances make sense for us to accept the ride.
The prospect of very early bus pickups for those who will still be offered the bus and the 1.5 mile walking distance without buses being offered, means that there will probably be a lot of cars making round trip visits to Womack Road come early August.
The job of putting together the transportation plan for the new school to best serve the needs of the students will be very difficult and I hope that the school system explores every option to find what is best for the students. This is what the
new school website says regarding school start times and transportation logistics.
What time will school start and end?- This is still under review. The current plan on the table has students delivered to the Academy starting at 7:00 am. Once the Academy students are dropped off, the bus will continue its route to the next elementary school. Students will be picked up from the Academy at 2:00 in the afternoon. Academy will dismiss at 2:00 pm. Buses will leave the Academy and go to Austin, Vanderlyn, and Chestnut Elementary schools before delivering to the neighborhoods. This is subject to change if the school release time is modified. This will create an earlier time for pick up in the morning, but the afternoon pickup and drop off time will be the same and the students will arrive home at the same time as their siblings.
How will the buses run, in relation to the current busing schedule?- We are an elementary school, and therefore, we will work around the established elementary start and end times with some flexibility. This is a transportation issue that the DeKalb County School System is looking into to determine the best possible time.
Whether or not you have children in the DeKalb County School System, these school items affect our tax bill, our home values and our overall quality of life and I thought they should be brought to your attention. I know that I will be watching closely.
