The Fulton County Board of Education will get a recommendation on the closure of Spalding Drive Elementary School in February 2025.
The board met Thursday to set the schedule, which will include community meetings at Riverwood High School from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 7, Nov. 4, and Dec. 9.
At those meetings, FCS staff will collect input to draw new attendance boundaries not only for Spalding but for Parklane Elementary in East Point, which is also being considered for closure.
FCS has created separate web pages for the Spalding Drive/Sandy Springs and Parklane/South Fulton closures and redistricting.
FCS staff presented the closure recommendation at the school board’s Sept. 10 work session and reviewed it at the Sept. 19 meeting. They identified nine schools that met the criteria to consider closure in their presentation to the board members. Each has 450 or fewer students enrolled, faces a continued declining enrollment projection, and/or has aging facility conditions.
Rep. Deborah Silcox, (R-Sandy Springs), sent the school board a letter on Sept. 15 asking them to keep Spalding Drive Elementary open.
“I am writing to you today to express my serious concerns for the potential closing of Spalding Drive Elementary School. I have fond memories of growing up in Sandy Springs and riding my bike to school at Spalding Drive Elementary,” she said.
Silcox said some of her constituents told her they moved to the neighborhood to have their children attend Spalding.
Silcox asked if the school could be renovated as was done for North Springs High before the new school construction was approved.
On Wednesday, hundreds of Spalding Drive community members spoke out to save their school at a community meeting by FCS board member Michelle Morancie. Some parents attended Thursday’s school board meeting in Union City to try to keep their school open.
Up to six Sandy Springs Elementary Schools may be affected by redistricting in addition to Spalding Drive: Dunwoody Springs, Heards Ferry, High Point, Ison Springs, Lake Forest, and Woodland.
During the first public meeting on Oct. 7, FCS staff will outline the redistricting process and set ground rules for small-group sessions to follow. Public comments made in those small groups and made online up to Oct. 10 will be used along with redistricting policies to develop attendance zone plans before the November public meeting.
On Nov. 4, FCS staff will present alternative proposals for new attendance zones. Small-group discussions will give community members a chance to offer their comments. The number of attendance zone alternatives will be reduced based on public input, with a deadline for online comments of Nov. 7.
At least one draft plan for the new attendance zones will be presented at the third and final public meeting on Dec. 9. Small group sessions will again be used to garner comments on their strengths and weaknesses. Using these comments and online comments submitted by Dec. 12, FCS staff will develop a final closure and redistricting recommendation for the school board to consider.
The school board will get its first look at the plan at its Jan. 14, 2025 meeting. School closure public hearings will be scheduled. The school board is expected to vote on the final attendance zone changes at its Feb. 20, 2025 meeting.
