DeKalb Schools to Hang on To Valuable Property

DeKalb Schools faced a multi-million deficit this summer that increased class sizes, led to teacher attrition and too many spending cuts to count.

But the school board decided this week it would hang on to a property valued at $18 million to $20 million.

Why? Board member Paul Womack, a lame-duck board member, said the property is one of the few logical places to build a school in a district that’s bursting with students, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

Should the school board make up a huge deficit with a sale like this? Let us know in comments.

Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson had proposed selling the property at Adams Stadium and some of the land in the busy intersection of North Druid Hills and Briarcliff Roads, reports Atlanta Curbed.

Womack said, "that campus is the only campus that we have in the middle of DeKalb where we can build a future school."

Sembler Co. made a pitch for the property five years ago for a retail and housing development before the bust.

The board voted a strong 6-1 on the proposal to keep the land.

Other buildings, however, could end up on the auction block. Avondale High School, the Heritage Center and Hooper Alexander Elememntary were all put on a surplus list, the AJC reported.

The school system recently had the oversight agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, look at its financial records due to parent outcry after this year's budget.