SAVE OUR
SCHOOL

82% of DeKalb's projected excess school capacity is concentrated in South DeKalb. North DeKalb schools are overcrowded. A county-wide closure program that targets North DeKalb schools does not solve this — it just moves students into already-strained buildings. A targeted investment of $2.5 to $4 million per year, funded almost entirely by existing federal grants and an existing Emory University partnership, would address the actual root cause: a quality gap driving families to transfer out of their zoned schools. That is a fraction of the $1.5 billion capital program currently on the table, and the funding already exists. The district has the resources. The question is whether it will use them where they are actually needed.

District-level administration grew 116% between 2019 and 2024 — from $50.5 million to $109.1 million — while instruction grew just 23%. General Administration alone grew 162%. Central Support Services grew 66% and exceeded its approved budget in both FY2023 and FY2024. These are not the numbers of a district in fiscal distress that needs to close schools. They are the numbers of a district with a central office spending problem. A serious, independent audit of administrative overhead would identify real savings without displacing a single child, disrupting a single classroom, or spending a dollar on construction. The district's General Fund balance grew 302% in five years — from $129.6 million to $520.8 million. The case for closing schools on fiscal grounds does not hold up against its own financial statements.