Key Points
• The Atlanta Board of Education will hold public hearings on Nov. 5 and Dec. 3 over a proposal to close or repurpose 16 schools.
• The APS Forward 2040 plan would address $157 budget shortfall and a decline in student enrollment.
The Atlanta Board of Education will hold two public hearings as it prepares to vote on a sweeping plan that would close or repurpose 16 schools and require the redistricting of students.
The hearings are set for Wednesday, Nov. 5, and Wednesday, Dec. 3, both starting at 5:30 p.m. at the APS offices at 130 Trinity Ave. in Downtown Atlanta.
The APS Forward 2040 plan addresses a $100 million budget shortfall this year and an expected $57 million next year. If the school board adopts the plan, it would save an estimated $85 to $90 million and reduce capacity by 5,200, which aligns with the ongoing drop in enrollment.
Schools slated for closure in the plan include Cleveland Elementary, Continental Colony Elementary, Douglass High School 9th Grade building, Dunbar Elementary School, F.L. Stanton Elementary, Finch Elementary, Perkerson Elementary, Jackson Primary Elementary, and Peyton Forest Elementary.
Students would be redistricted to other nearby facilities or merge with existing schools within their district. For example, Finch and Perkerson Elementary Schools would close and merge into the existing Sylvan Middle School, while Dunbar Elementary School students would move to the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy, Benteen Elementary, and Parkside Elementary.
Schools listed for repurposing include the Toomer Annex Building with pre-K students moved to other nearby schools and Carver Early College would convert to a 6-12th grade district-wide school of the arts and early college.
The closures and redistricting would begin after the 2026-27 school year, according to the documents.
The full recommendations are at atlantapublicschools.us/aps2040 or can be read below.
