Agenda Item
a. Student Assignment Project ~ Updated 1.12.2026
Summary: Presented by: Ms. Sarita Smith, Executive Director of Student Assignment, Division of Access & Opportunity,
Mr. Hans Williams, Division of Operations,
DeKalb County
School District
December SAP Update
Presented by:
Sarita Smith & Hans Williams
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Vision
To reimagine DCSD by considering buildings,
boundaries, and programs holistically, using data, and
reviewing every 5 years to align with E-SPLOST.
This comprehensive planning process will help
position ALL students upon graduation to Enroll,
Employ, engage in Entrepreneurship, or Enlist.
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SAP Advisory Purpose and Non-Purpose
Purpose Non-Purpose of the Advisory
• Serve as a critical thought partner in assessing systems • To make final decisions regarding policy or standard
related to buildings, boundaries, and programs. operating procedures related to DCSD.
• Serve as a critical thought partner in assessing DCSD's • To determine the daily operations of schools or
current student assignment procedures and policies. programs.
• Provide impartial recommendations suited to dismantling • To direct DCSD to make specific changes within the
structural inequities. purview of the Board of Education.
• Use data to make informed decisions and • To make decisions that only impact specific children or
recommendations. communities.
• Recommend ways for DCSD to become fiscally efficient.
• Review and recommend ways to reimagine DCSD programs
and offerings so that all students have a quality education.
• Recommend boundaries, buildings, and programs suited
for the current and projected enrollment.
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Five Reasons Why
Declining Student Consolidated Resources
Enrollment and
Underutilized Schools
More Efficient Transportation
School Buildings Need Routes and Bus Savings
Significant Repairs and
Improvements
Severely Over and Under Capacity Schools
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Timeline
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Community Engagement
Iterative Process
Develop ideas and Gather feedback
scenarios to share from the
with the community community
SAP committee Share iterations
review and iterate with communities
using the guiding and gather more
principles feedback (repeat)
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Goals of this meeting:
Determine primary and secondary evaluation
metrics.
Determine if there are any metrics we should not use
or should add.
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Facility Planning Evaluation Metrics Information
Here is what you should know about evaluation metrics
- The metrics were created from best practices, SAP
feedback, and SAP guiding principles.
- All schools' data for all metrics can be found on a new
sortable table.
- There is no ONE metric that determines which school may
be consolidated, repurposed, or renovated.
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Facility Planning (Scenario) Evaluation Metrics
SAP October Recap
Proximity
• Distance to Neighboring Schools
(Facility to
Facility)
• Capacity
Buildings • Adequacy
• Condition
• Forecasted Utilization
Enrollment • Forecasted Students within 1 mile
(ES) and 1.5 mile (MS & HS)
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Scenario Evaluation Metrics
We are looking closely at how
convenient and efficient our Proximity
school locations are for our
community……
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Scenario Evaluation Metrics
We want to maximize
the use of our best and Buildings
Proximity
most efficient school
buildings.
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Scenario Evaluation Metrics
We need to be proactive Enrollment
Buildings
Proximity
and innovative about
where our students are
now and where they will
be in the future.
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Other Metrics
Are there
other metrics
that should be
considered?
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Scenario Evaluation Metrics Exercise
Distance to Max Adequacy Forecasted Forecast 1 and
School Capacity FCA 2030
Neighboring Schools Score Utilization 1.5 mile 2030
Small Group Work:
HPM Facilitator will operate the Arabia Mountain HS 6.5 1,581 85% 90% 65% 124
Cedar Grove HS 5.0 1,271 71% 86% 70% 165
metrics worksheet so that the Chamblee HS 3.7 1,705 88% 91% 85% 739
group can: Clarkston HS 4.0 1,333 78% 83% 85% 1028
• Review scores by school, Columbia HS
Cross Keys HS
3.6
4.5
1,426
1,400
82%
100%
80%
100%
37%
85%
200
666
grade level, etc. Druid Hills HS 5.1 1,395 69% 80% 85% 150
• Discuss the metrics DSA 4.2 744 60% 84% 39% 340
Dunwoody HS 5.7 1,550 84% 81% 85% 484
• Avoid ranking schools Lakeside HS 4.2 1,705 88% 85% 85% 315
or determining which schools Lithonia HS 3.5 1,426 80% 88% 85% 556
may be consolidated, Martin Luther King Jr HS 5.6 2,046 87% 88% 54% 126
repurposed, or renovated McNair HS 5.7 1,674 73% 85% 31% 118
Miller Grove HS 4.1 1,860 89% 85% 42% 447
Redan HS 4.6 1,736 89% 86% 51% 542
Sequoyah HS 4.0 1,600 100% 100% 90% 246
Southwest DeKalb HS 3.6 1,922 92% 86% 57% 366
Stephenson HS 5.1 2,077 89% 81% 53% 269
THIS IS NOT A LIST OF SCHOOLS FOR Stone Mountain HS 4.0 1,209 66% 81% 85% 668
CLOSURES. Towers HS 3.5 1,302 78% 84% 63% 372
Tucker HS 4.6 1,736 86% 91% 85%
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497
Community Feedback
DSA must remain a stand-alone school:
DeKalb School of the Arts is DCSD’s highest-performing high school and only comprehensive performing arts program;
dismantling or embedding it would undermine a proven, successful model.
Specialized expertise cannot be replicated:
High-level performing arts education requires specialized faculty with professional experience, advanced degrees, and
mentorship capacity that cannot be realistically or equitably duplicated across multiple neighborhood schools.
Facilities are essential, not optional:
Professional theaters, studios, rehearsal spaces, and technical facilities are core instructional needs for DSA and would be
prohibitively expensive to recreate at multiple sites.
Immersive arts community drives student success:
DSA’s culture of acceptance, creative expression, and peer support allows arts-focused students to thrive in ways they often
cannot in traditional school settings.
Integrated curriculum is critical:
DSA’s extended arts blocks, flexible rehearsals, and arts-aligned academics are central to student achievement and would not
survive in an embedded or “track” model. 15
Community Feedback
SAP recommendations lack supporting data:
Families consistently note that SAP has not presented program performance data, research, or feasibility analyses showing
embedded models would perform as well as stand-alone programs.
Disruption harms students and families:
Rezoning, redistricting, or dissolving successful programs would destabilize students—especially those nearing transitions—
and risk driving engaged families out of the district.
Neighborhood schools and choice programs matter:
Longstanding community schools and magnet/choice programs strengthen enrollment, diversity, and family engagement and
should be preserved rather than altered.
Trust, transparency, and communication are lacking:
Parents express concern about limited transparency, missing meeting records, unclear decision-making, and unresolved
issues such as discipline and staffing.
Successful models should be strengthened, not dismantled:
The dominant message is to invest in what works—support and expand high-performing schools like DSA and replicate best
practices elsewhere rather than breaking them apart.
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SAP Feedback
Strong consensus that these should be Access & Opportunity should cut across
PRIMARY metrics: all metrics, including:
• Building Utilization • Facility quality
• Facility Condition & Adequacy • Program access
• School Capacity • Resource distribution
• Program Alignment • Neighborhood impact
• Student demographics
These form the “non-negotiable”
Repeated emphasis: Decisions should not disproportionately
foundation for any scenario. burden families with fewer resources.
Programs: Alignment
Neighborhood & Community Cohesion
• Mixed views on moving programs
• Schools should support:
• Strong support for:
• Parent engagement
• Replicating effective programs
• Walkability
districtwide
• Reasonable commute times
• Limiting standalone programs to
• Closures or consolidations should
specialized student needs
consider ripple effects on nearby
• Concern that high-achiever magnets
schools
can drain neighborhood schools
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Community
Feedback
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What's Next
Community Meetings
• The SAP internal team is in the process of planning all winter and spring community
meetings.
SAP Committee Meeting
• Follow up evaluation metrics committee meeting January 14, 2026
• The SAP internal team is planning the winter and spring meeting schedule. This
meeting cadence will complement the community meetings.
Student Assignment Project (SAP)
Website
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