DeKalb County shifts student assignment project focus to overcrowding in six clusters

On Aug. 21, the DeKalb County School District announced the continuation of its Student Assignment Project, inviting families, students, staff, and community members from six school clusters to help shape how new and expanded schools will serve students beginning in 2027.

This fall, the district is focused on overcrowded schools in the Lakeside, Cross Keys, Chamblee, Tucker, Dunwoody and Druid Hills clusters, which will be affected by new and expanded schools opening from 2027 to 2029, according to a release from the school district.

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Those projects include Dresden Elementary School, Cross Keys High School, Sequoyah Middle School, Sequoyah High School and Idlewood Elementary School, along with the addition of a new high school cluster.

Following that work, the district will turn its focus to under-enrolled schools in the Towers, McNair, Cedar Grove, Miller Grove, Columbia and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. clusters in early 2027.

Community members interested in serving on a Community Advisory Team for the overcrowded schools should submit an interest form up until Aug. 25.

Project pivot

After months of feedback, protests, and angst about DeKalb County’s Student Assignment Project, which proposed closing dozens of schools and repurposing others, the school district announced on May 5 that it is shifting to a new direction.

According to an emailed announcement and an online video, DCDS officials said they heard that the information-gathering process “felt too top-down, scenarios appeared predetermined, conversations separated buildings, boundaries, and programs in ways that did not reflect how communities experience schools.”

“We take this feedback seriously, and it is shaping how this work moves forward,” the statement said. “Simply put, the process is evolving.”

SAP, launched in 2024, has as its goal to maximize resources, ensure long-term academic sustainability for students, families, and DCSD staff with the closure or consolidation of dozens of schools over the next six to eight years.

Parents around the district, especially in the northern end of the county, have decried the changes, saying that high-achieving schools should be a factor in the closure decisions.

Ways to participate

Stakeholders are also invited to take part in an online survey, an online survey paired with a focus group, or public comment sessions from now through October.

“The Student Assignment Project has always been about one thing: shaping what’s next for student opportunity,” said Dr. Norman C. Sauce III, interim superintendent of the DeKalb County School District. “We’re continuing that work in new, more collaborative ways. This fall, we focus on communities experiencing overcrowding, and early next year, we will turn to communities experiencing under-enrollment. Our north star hasn’t changed: strengthening opportunity for every DeKalb student.”

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