After months of feedback, protests, and angst about DeKalb County’s Student Assignment Plan, 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 process criticized and heard
DeKalb’s Student Assignment Project (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.
Several parent groups, including Oak Grove Elementary School, have taken highly publicized steps to express their disapproval, including producing videos, conducting in-depth analyses of the proposed decisions, and a deep dive on HPM, the company driving the process.
The district was to announce to the public in early May a third round of changes to the plan after the second round of feedback. Instead, DCDS Interim Superintendent Norman C. Sauce met with the SAP committee, and the district issued its May 5 announcement via email and a six-minute online video.
“We learned that it didn’t make sense to separate buildings from boundaries, boundaries from programs,” Sauce said in the video. “We learned from folks that there were too many unanswered questions about the particulars.”
Moving forward, Sauce said, “those conversations will happen together … in more holistic ways in specific school and cluster communities.”
What about HPM?
Sauce said the process will involve “independent facilitators” alongside district representatives “to support those conversations going forward.”
Neither the video nor the announcement addressed the role of HPM, which had been spearheading the process, with analysis, almost two years of meetings with the 150-member SAP committee, and feedback sessions.
In fact, the DCSD website detailing next steps in the process does not mention a continuing role for HPM on the site or in its April 12 summary report.
It said further steps will be taken this summer, to include:
• Reviewing community feedback
• Analyze enrollment and capacity data
• Develop a detailed engagement plan
“This work will ensure that upcoming conversations are informed, focused, and productive,” the statement said.
Conversations will move to cluster, schools
Beginning in August, DCSD said it will launch “community-based conversations” in the clusters most impacted by these changes to focus on attendance boundary review, be “grounded in community input,” and “ensure every voice has an opportunity to be heard.”
Based on this engagement, a final recommendation is expected to be presented to the DeKalb Board of Education in December 2026, the announcement said.
In conjunction with the conversations, several major school projects are planned to open between 2027 and 2029, including the expansion of Idlewood Elementary School, the construction of a new Dresden Elementary School, the renovation and expansion of Cross Keys High School, the construction of a new Sequoyah Middle School, and the construction of a new Sequoyah High School.
The creation of a Sequoyah cluster may impact several existing clusters, including Chamblee, Cross Keys, Dunwoody, Druid Hills, Lakeside, and Tucker, the announcement said, necessitating a review of attendance boundaries as part of the SAP process.
Attendance lines will shift
During a recent Dunwoody Homeowners Association meeting, District 1 Board Member Andrew Ziffer mentioned, among other scenarios, that Hightower Elementary School could be moved to the Sequoyah cluster, which would significantly relieve overcrowding at Peachtree Middle School and Dunwoody High School.
In spring of 2027, SAP will shift its focus to address under-enrollment in several clusters, including Towers, Columbia, McNair, Cedar Grove, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), and Miller Grove. This phase will follow the same collaborative, community-based approach.
“While Round 1 and Round 2 scenarios focused on potential school closings, consolidations, or repurposing, especially in areas where enrollment has declined, at this time, no decisions have been made,” the announcement said. “These conversations will continue through the fall and spring as outlined above.”
The announcement warned, however, that change is coming, and that the status quo is not acceptable.
“We must also be clear: both overcrowding and under-enrollment are impacting students today, limiting access to programs, teachers, and opportunities,” the statement said. “Addressing both challenges is essential. Every student in DeKalb County deserves equitable access to opportunity, regardless of where they live or which school they attend.”
