Why isn’t superintendent handling school closings in DeKalb?
I had one question at the end of tonight’s nearly four hour Citizens Planning Task Force meeting on which under-capacity DeKalb schools to close: Why didn’t the DeKalb County schools superintendent make this tough decision?
More than 350 parents and children attended a meeting on possible school closings in DeKalb to show support for their schools. AJC/Hyosub Shin
Instead, a citizen task force is doing the hard, no-win job of paring down an original list of 83 schools to four for possible closing and consolidation. The task force will present its findings to the county school board in two weeks, and the board will make the actual decision of which schools to close after another round of public hearings.
Tonight, the dwindling list went from 14 to 10 with the elimination of Medlock, Briar Vista, Laurel Ridge and Avondale elementaries. The task force voted those schools off the list because the schools around them lacked the capacity to absorb the displaced students. (See the AJC story.)
Before the meeting started, someone pointed out to me that Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall would have made this decision on her own without a 20-member task force, six highly emotional public meetings and all this sturm and drang. Attended by 350 parents and students, tonight’s meeting included entreaties and poetry by students, impassioned speeches by parents, suggestions of racially driven decision-making by a task force members and plans for a possible second meeting this week.
Why go through such a public and protracted drama? Isn’t school leadership supposed to confront the hard choices?
The task force is making its decisions based on data supplied by the county. It is supposed to come up with candidates for closure and consolidation based on quantifiable criteria.
The main considerations of the task force are factual, including which schools are under capacity, are unlikely to regain students and are close to schools with empty seats. To discern which schools best match that criteria, the task force is using information supplied by county staff.
So why couldn’t county staff use the same data to come up with four schools for the superintendent? It would have been quicker and easier. Now, parents keep having to return to these task force meetings, waving the same “Save our school” signs and making the same pleas to spare their schools.
With a $115 million deficit, DeKalb has to close schools. Is it an abdication of duty to push this unpleasant, unpopular and and time-consuming job onto a task force operating under incredible pressure and deadlines?
I believe the public has a right to be heard in this process, but I think they ought to be talking to the school board and superintendent and not 20 citizen volunteers.
What do you think?
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125 comments Add your comment
Private School Guy
March 31st, 2010
10:16 pm
During the meeting it was pointed out that all the closings are on the south side. This is reducing geography to a simple north south understanding. In reality all the closing are in the south western portion of DeKalb and all (with the exception of Atherton) are inside I 285. If one looks at the history of the area over the last 50 years these neighborhoods were once filled with suburban families with children. While flight changed the area’s racial make up. But in the past 15 years families have been moving out of these areas to SE DeKalb, Henry, Clayton and Rockdale where homes are larger and property is cheaper and the schools are newer. This is the real reason these schools may need to close.
A Mom
March 31st, 2010
10:24 pm
@It’s Me: The reason that Montessori shows up as costing more per student is that DCSS accounts for Montessori teachers as if they were part of the program overhead, not a sunk cost that would have to be incurred to teach the students regardless of the teaching method. When you recategorize the costs that are not particular to Montessori, the long life of the teaching materials (no textbooks, no workbooks, etc.) balances out the cost of the paras. In other words, paras don’t make much money, and traditional classrooms consume a lot of paper every year that Montessori classes don’t need to re-buy.
Perhaps for environmental reasons every school in the county ought to add a Montessori option . . .
. . . I agree that DCSS is broken, but Montessori is not evidence of that. Try eSIS or America’s Choice or take-home cars or crumbling buildings instead.
B. Killebrew
March 31st, 2010
11:11 pm
If one looks at the schools on the closing lists, and then look at the map and the capacity of area schools, it’s fairly easy/logical to see what should happen:
1. Gresham Park and Meadowview Elementary schools should close. The districts and students will be absorbed by Sky Haven, Clifton, Flat Shoals, and Kelley Lake (even though I like the historical significance/neighborhood ties of Gresham Park…maybe one of the other schools could close in its place).
2. Knollwood and Peachcrest Elementary schools should combine. One of the schools will be closed.
3. Atherton Elementary should close (this will be the toughest to decide). Its district and students will be absorbed by Snapfinger, Glen Haven, Rowland, and Canby Lane.
4. Dekalb County Schools will then need to redistrict schools zones for the entire county.
5. Dekalb County Schools should then work on making “real magnets”–attracting students to certain schools based on a scholarly interest, curriculum, and/or skill. Not magnets based on giftedness/high-achievement (every school should be able to meet the needs of these students!), nor magnets set up to be separate schools/academies (for example, Avondale/DSA should be combined and become like the successful performing arts program/model at Pebblebrook High in Cobb County).
6. Do away with theme schools and use those schools as real district/neighborhood schools to relieve any overcrowding (or just close to further cut down costs.)
B. Killebrew
March 31st, 2010
11:12 pm
Please remove my post (from around 11:12pm) from the filter!
Ann
March 31st, 2010
11:58 pm
@ Private Schoool Mom, happy to have you on the blog, but private school is not a solution for everyone. So, when you are offering suggestions on how you are spending your money on our children, don’t suggest that we send them to private school – that’s all. And your blog name is enough for us to know what you prefer – no need to add a post stating it. And before you get too comfortable about paying for OUR children’s education, remember that WE are the ones who are staying IN the schools, trying to make them better, and keeping your property values up. This is a two-way street. We are not just “taking” your money for “our” kids. “We” are working in the schools that you abandoned to keep “your” property values up.
B. Killebrew
April 1st, 2010
12:09 am
I like your post above, Ann.
Private School Parent
April 1st, 2010
12:10 am
Ann,
So let me offer you an analogy based upon your logic in your blog. So if a restaurant serves you a substandard meal do you continue to return to that establishment and patronize the owner so that you can help “improve” it? And by keeping your kids in the “schools” you are preserving my property value. That is laughable……I suppose those deadbeats in Clayton County who kept their precious little Einstein’s in the school system also kept their property values up?
Private School Parent
April 1st, 2010
12:22 am
Ann,
So let me offer you an analogy based upon your logic in your blog. So if a restaurant serves you a substandard meal you continue to return to that establishment and patronize the owner so that you can help “improve” it? And by keeping your kids in the “schools” you are preserving my property value. That is laughable……I suppose those deadbeats in Clayton County who kept their precious little Einstein’s in the school system also kept their property values up?
Truth Hurts
April 1st, 2010
12:34 am
Looks like I may have hurt some feelings posting as Private School Parent and the thought police at AJC could not have that……
Ann,
So let me offer you an analogy based upon your logic in the blog above. If an automobile maker kept putting out bad cars would you still purchase that brand so you could patronize the company and help to “improve” it by spending hard earned money on something inferior? And by keeping your kids in school “you are preserving my property values”? That is quite hilarious. I suppose all the precious little Einstein’s in CCPC also preserved their property values. To the contrary, the opposite of what you opined is true. Deal with it.
B. Killebrew
April 1st, 2010
1:43 am
Truth Hurts/Private School Parent…
No–you are wrong.
Just the Fact
April 1st, 2010
6:33 am
White boys can’t jump, black folks cry race when they are not capable of making a decision or don’t get their way.
Ann
April 1st, 2010
7:52 am
Private school parent, I will put my well-adjusted, smart, and exposed-to-reality children up against your sheltered, entitled kids anytime. The point is that you have no purpose on this board if all you’re going to do is tell people that the solution to their problems is your precious private school. By your logic, anything that isn’t perfect isn’t worth having or trying to fix. When your Escalade breaks, I bet you just go buy a brand new one instead of taking it to a repair shop? When your manicured nails crack, do you rip off your finger and start fresh? When your kids misbehave, do you throw them out and get new ones? Oh, wait, your kids go to private school, so they’re perfect.
Dunwoody Mom
April 1st, 2010
8:22 am
Ann – absolutely love your response. You would not believe the stories my kids hear from their private school friends. Makes me glad I am saving my money so that my kids can attend the college of their choice and not have to stay in state for Hope.
Vince
April 1st, 2010
11:50 am
Ann for President in 2012!
response
April 1st, 2010
12:25 pm
Dunwoody Mom: You state that Kittredge only accepts kids who are already performing…in other words, I’m assuming you are referencing the test scores. You also state that they come from performing schools….where are you getting your data? How do you KNOW they are coming from successful schools (I’d like to see what the base of that population is)? And further, do you know that they were being CHALLENGED in those schools, or is this simply not part of the equation? Just curious. Research indicates that gifted kids drop out because they are bored. Parents deal with their kids “checking out” in classroom performance when teachers have to re-teach concepts 42 times in a 32 minute period. (ps. I’m not talking about my own kids here).
Private/Public Family
April 1st, 2010
12:43 pm
I have one child in private and one in public. You all are communicating in a very offensive manner. Comparing good private schools to any public school is like horses and giraffes. Both have advantages that the other cannot offer. But the financial resources available at quality private schools make side by side comparisons impossible.
Momof2
April 1st, 2010
7:10 pm
Well, location of schools aside, and bypassing the issues of race and private/public preference, if the Superintendent and his deputy are not performing – can we see about getting one or both salaries off the books? I agree there is an big leadership gap – we are not getting our money’s worth.
Inquisitve Parent
April 1st, 2010
9:20 pm
My open records request involved where the enrollment capacity numbers came from….I believe that seats in trailers were included….NO child should be in a classroom in a trailer. These are SCHOOLS, not trailer parks!
Inquisitve Parent
April 1st, 2010
9:27 pm
Ann, You are right on target! You took the words right out of my mouth!
It's Me
April 1st, 2010
9:50 pm
@ A Mom: Montessori test scores do not show the students score any better than students in a traditional classroom. Again, eliminate the program. It is a private school program in a public school! I agree 100% that eSis and America’s Choice are also monetary drains on a system that is struggling with serious budget issues. Much fat to be cut and the items listed here are some that need to go. DeKalb as well as other systems throughout the state are going to have to reduce to basics in education until the state’s economy improves. There is no money! The state has cut education to the bone. Many things are going to have to change and many programs are going to have to go. People are going to have their feeling hurt. Yes, these are all tough choices!
Another cop out.
April 1st, 2010
10:47 pm
No school closings…..I guess yet again a niche group of parents get what they want. Fire the central office. Close some schools, and gut the magnet programs so all kids in our district can have reasonably sized classes and resources.
What a pity. Private school is sounding better and better.
Ernest
April 1st, 2010
11:01 pm
Actually the recommendation did not identify specific schools but sent the list of 10 to the district for consideration. There were several task force members that had philosophical problems with the process, despite the openness of the proceedings. I believe it ultimately came down to their desire to see the Board make the tough decisions.
Angela
April 1st, 2010
11:03 pm
Very Ramona Tysonesque! Get community members to take the brunt of the blame.
Better School Parent
April 2nd, 2010
8:36 pm
Care to guess the stories our kids hear about the public school kids, Dunwoody Mom? Of course most of these stories are about the abject failure of “parents” to teach their kids any morals.
Serendipity
April 2nd, 2010
11:41 pm
The question I have to ask and was Not asked by the Task Force or by the School Board when compiling data is “what is the quality of education in each of those schools?” The decision making process never once asked how successful educationally any of those schools are. They talked about enrollment, they talked about distance, age of the building, open seats….
When do we insist that they talk about the Quality of the existing programs?
The numbers and data aren’t as easy to find or as easy to ‘quantify’ but this also isn’t impossible. Simply put our leadership keeps making the same types of decisions based on the same types of data and we continue with a downward trend in the quality of our schools. Definitive changes need to be made! Our children are not numbers, they are our future. Did one Task Force Member or one Board Member ever talk about physically visiting any of the schools on the list?