A controversial plan to redistrict DeKalb County schools could save the district up to $161 million during the next ten years, according to school district estimates.
The $161 million savings could be reaped under a “decentralized” option that keeps the district magnet schools intact, but changes attendance boundaries all over the county, particularly for elementary schools.
Under a decentralized plan, the district could also receive somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million in “entitlement” funds for building new schools.
The entitlement figure would be higher under a “centralized” plan, which would move the county’s magnet offerings to Avondale High and Middle schools. However, the district’s overall cost savings would be less, according to its estimates. The centralized plan would save the school district $150 million over the next ten years. Click here to view the report.
As part of the estimates, the district calculated a $14 million savings in facility and administration costs. Those cost estimates are based on the closure of 14 schools. No schools in northern DeKalb are on the chopping block, however, Kittredge could be “repurposed” to an elementary school from its current offering of high-achiever magnet classes.
Even so, consolidating the administration and other functions at the school would save the district nearly $1.1 milllion, according to a district report. Click here to view it.
– Jason Massad