Calling All Those of Quixotic Hearts: A Windmill, Ahem, a Public Meeting Regarding "2020"

"I've been a soldier and a slave. I've seen my comrades fall in battle or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I've held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no brave last words, only their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning "Why?" I don't think they were wondering why they were dying, but why they had ever lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? To surrender dreams - -this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all - -to see life as it is and not as it should be." - Miguel de Cervantes

Like Cervantes' great hero from La Mancha we cling to our dream and ride to joust the windmills of change for DCSS ... I am sharing this because I think it is important and I think the "plan" is far from optimal or equitable. Please attend but just in your own street cloths and with your own opinion or verbal lance - not collectively coordinated, colored t-shirts or worn out mantras. Thank you! :)

see:  http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/strategic-plan/community-engagement-session-for-strategic-planning.pdf

"The DeKalb County School System is re-establishing a strategic planning process and invites you to participate! It is vital that we hear from our stakeholders on the future direction of the school district before the plan is developed.

What: A Community Engagement Session to gather input from stakeholders
When: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Where: The DeKalb County School System Administrative and Instructional Complex (AIC) Auditorium, 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard, Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Who: All DeKalb County School System stakeholders are invited to participate.

To Attend: Please RSVP by calling 678-676-0023 or by email: research@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us

If you need an interpreter in order to participate, please notify us of your specific needs when you RSVP.

An on-line survey will be available for those who can’t attend the meeting. A link to the survey will appear on the district’s website immediately following the meeting."

“Without a vision, the people perish…”

And so will the future of public education in DeKalb County if we don’t see radical change. Bloggers –parents, teachers and students – demand those in charge either lead or get out of the way. We are tired of the blaming, the excuses, the diversion tactics. It is still possible to educate children within a public system – but it requires skilled leadership and a sense of mission - a sense of purpose; a clear vision we have not had in this district in easily 20 years. In the past, we have blamed the old boys’ network, the federal court case, M to M, Dr. Brown – when the real culprit behind all of this has been an abject failure of leadership. How is it Fulton and Gwinnett have not become the public school embarrassments DeKalb has? Because when challenges emerged, demographics shifted and the feds made new rules, these counties adapted. They are not perfect: but they installed capable leadership and communicated a clear mission: educate kids. Let us do likewise.

The consequences of failing in this mission are grave. We polled our regular bloggers, contributors and consultants asking their input on a vision for our schools. Herewith, our own 2020 vision:

• A trained, experienced superintendent who possesses the utmost integrity and character, who can guide DeKalb Schools in a way that develops teachers, staff and students; a leader not heretofore connected to this school system, who will end cronyism and nepotism, who can restore trust and is dedicated to putting student learning first; a leader qualified to re-structure a Central Office to serve children first.
• A chief financial officer of the utmost integrity and character who is trustworthy and transparent in overseeing wise expenditures of the people’s money.
• Board of Education members who adhere to codified ethical and legal standards; who are themselves educated; who are engaged in the mission of student learning; whose family members are not employed by the DeKalb County School System.
• The completion of a thorough, outside audit of the budget, all SPLOST expenditures and financial practices of the school system.
• A re-configuring of the pay scale to redirect monies to classroom teachers from the Central Office personnel.
• A qualified, skilled principal in every school, gifted at harnessing the power of teachers and parents to work in harmony for the development of every child; empowered principals who can remove inadequate teachers and staff.
• A system of schools that offer an equitable course of study in a safe, clean and welcoming environment – no matter where you live.
• A qualified teacher in every classroom, each encouraged to seek national certification, and each supported by the network of resources – including student teachers – available at area colleges.
• Aligned feeder patterns that afford vertical planning time for all teachers to eliminate educational gaps as children move from elementary to middle school to high school.
• A philosophy that encourages children to “advance when ready:” a nimble school environment that can meet the needs of early readers and those demonstrating unusual early facility, allowing them to move on to new academic challenges instead of marking time.
• A system of schools sized to maximize collection of state and federal funding.

Elementary Vision:

• A safe, clean environment with appropriate resources in every classroom – from teaching tools to tissues.
• Individualized learning support for struggling students that begins in Kindergarten.
• Small learning groups to support solid reading and math skills.
• An exploration of “looping” to allow a teacher to stay with a group two or even three years to focus on building on known strengths and addressing known deficits.
• Refashioned art, music, PE and foreign language instruction for all students that builds on and is integrated into the core learning curriculum.
• Technology: Wi-fi, SmartBoards, laptops, Kindles, iPads and/or other identified resources – plus the teacher training that ensures technology will be utilized to extend learning.
• Fully-equipped science labs.
• A quality program to meet the needs of gifted learners.
• Recess every day.
• A magnet program that begins in the upper elementary years – after children begin to demonstrate certain proficiencies – to address the needs of the top five-percent of students.
• After-school programs that address learning struggles, while providing other life-enhancing and wellness activities.

Middle School Vision:

• A place where children are known by the adults around them – where they are supported in academic pursuits and extra-curriculars.
• A clean, safe environment, where adults are trained to develop students and coach them into better choices and behaviors; where intransigent students are removed in deference to the entire school community.
• Refashioned art, music, PE and foreign language instruction for all students that builds on and is integrated into the core learning curriculum.
• Technology: Wi-fi, SmartBoards, laptops, Kindles, iPads and other identified resources – plus the teacher training that ensure resources will be utilized to extend learning.
• Fully-equipped science labs.
• A quality program to meet the needs of gifted learners.
• A full complement of sports, academic competitions (including science, debate, Hi-Q, chess, engineering) leadership and musical opportunities – with qualified adult leadership – to develop students’ gifts and talents.
• Intra-mural programs to promote cooperation and play.

High School Vision:

• A place where children are known by the adults around them – where they are supported in academic pursuits and extra-curriculars.
• A clean, safe environment, where adults are trained to develop students and coach them into better choices and behaviors; where intransigent students are removed in deference to the entire school community.
• Multi-track diplomas that recognize not every child will attend college – but every child needs a high school diploma. Vo-Tech and Career-Tech paths that will ensure students graduate prepared to support themselves and capable of functioning in society.
• Courses of study for the brightest students, supported by the resources of area colleges and undergirded by IB, AP and nationally-recognized standards.
• General-level classes that do not warehouse children – that are engaging and develop all students.
• Mandatory Saturday school for failing students.
• Meaningful and informed college counseling.
• Technology: Wi-fi, SmartBoards, laptops, Kindles, iPads and other identified resources – plus the teacher training that ensure technology resources will be utilized to extend learning.
• Parents Centers for all schools within a cluster that truly offer needed resources, especially to non-English speaking parents.
• A full complement of sports, academic competitions (including science, debate, Hi-Q, chess, engineering) leadership and musical opportunities – with qualified adult leadership – to develop students’ gifts and talents.
• Intra-mural programs to promote cooperation and play.

Money, Money, Money

So the official estimates of savings from both the centralized and decentralized plans are now up on the 2020 Vision Website. (Once again, I want to commend Dan Drake for his transparency throughout this process.) From one of the documents:

We estimate the centralized plan to save the DeKalb County School District approximately $150 million in operating costs over the next ten years; the decentralized option is estimated to realize gains of approximately $161 million over that same time period. Additionally, we can expect an extra $5 million in capital entitlement earnings over the ten year period from the centralized plan (and slightly less in the decentralized plan).

After studying the various documents and trying to understand how the savings are greater with the Decentralized Option, I have come to the following conclusion. Because the Centralized Plan utilizes Avondale Middle and Avondale High School, there is a loss of the 3 Million Dollars annually in savings from shuttering those schools. In addition, Nancy Creek is kept open in both models, so no savings is realized there. (In one model, it remains KMS, in the other it becomes a neighborhood school so the overhead costs remain the same.)

Fifteen million a year in the centralized plan and 16 million a year in the decentralized plan are the estimated savings. Neither analysis estimates ongoing maintenance costs, which given the age of these buildings are probably not insignificant.

Here are the links to the documents:

http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/redistricting/financial-analysis-efficiencies.pdf

http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/redistricting/financial-analysis-individual-schools.pdf

http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/redistricting/financial-analysis-cost-savings.pdf

Attention Losers! This is How You Win ...

This post, a copy of an email distributed by Fernbank was added yesterday by a new participant . We just want to assure readers that the blog is simply enlightening the community—as we did by publishing the other community emails we received—not endorsing anyone's actions or viewpoint.   - Moderator

Points for Tonight at Shamrock/Druid Hills
Everyone must attend tonight's redistricting meeting at Shamrock/Druid Hills Middle -- even if you think you're not affected, you are -- we will lose teachers, financial support, and key parental involvement. Some examples of how you will be affected? No art special, no science special, no Reflections, no Chess Club, no Hospitality chairs, no Library Committe chairs, no Ambassador leaders, no Garden Committee leaders -- the list goes on and on. Your community needs you there tonight and every other night you possibly can. Every parent and stakeholder should have a personal goal of attending TWO meetings.

Process Points to Follow:
1. Be on time, or better yet, be early.
2. Sit at a table (8-12 roundtops) with 1/3-1/2 Fernbank people.
3. Control the pen, control the mike, or better yet, both. Each table will have a "scribe" -- be it. Each table will have a "reporter," who will speak for 2 min. -- be it.
4. When you get to "Option 3," be clear and concise. Use Fernbank as an example of the larger theme -- e.g., not breaking up long-established neighborhoods, moving kids to different programs, supporting larger schools.
5. When you hear a point that is consistent with our position, go ahead and applaud.

Substance Points to Follow:
1. We need a clear strategic vision first, before we implement redistricting for fewer, bigger schools.
2. With that vision in place, follow the Board's own goals:
-- don't split in half historic neighborhoods, like Fernbank, where the building has supported the same neighborhood for 50+ years and the school's many buildings have served Druid Hills for 90+ years.
-- don't move children from one kind of educational program to another, like IB. The IB program should be available to more students, not fewer. We support a larger school of 900 and providing more access to IB.
-- the plan must account for future growth. Construction on hundreds of residences for Emory and CDC families is breaking ground this year. According to the Board's own goals, those residences should be zoned to Briar Vista.
-- the plan must provide safe, walkable environments and pay attention to traffic patterns, and not further clog the Clifton Corridor.
-- decisions should be based on actual cost benefits, not on speculation.

Response on smaller issues:
1. We have no official position on location of magnets. If conversation at your table focuses on that, incorporate that concern into your points and MOVE ON.
2. If anyone suggests making Briar Vista a PK-K or PK-1 campus for Fernbank's children, talk about 1100 students and families with multiple children driving back and forth and back and forth along Clifton Road during the morning rush hour. Enough said.
Finally, schools from our cluster will be there tonight in DROVES. Be there -- for your friends, your neighbors, your children, and OUR school.

Updated 2020 Vision

The link on the DCSS Website for all to see. Click here to download all of the presentation files from last night's meeting. They are listed under the heading "Options (3 Jan 2011)".

The AJC has a report on the meeting titled, 14 DeKalb schools on proposed closure list.

On Monday night, the school board unveiled a comprehensive redistricting proposal that calls for 12 elementary schools to close: Livsey, Medlock, Rock Chapel, Bob Mathis, Atherton, Glen Haven, Gresham Park, Sky Haven, Toney, Peachcrest, Wadsworth and Kittredge. The proposal also calls for Avondale Middle and Avondale High to be closed and used to house magnet programs.

Good luck and happy hunting.

UPDATE: For those of you having trouble downloading the very large map files, one of our very helpful and technical bloggers has graciously downloaded them, downsized them, and repackaged them as a bundle. Unfortunately, since this blog is powered by Blogger and not WordPress, I can't store the file for you to download. But if you would like it, send me an email and I'll send it to you as an attachment. -Cere

reparteeforfun@gmail.com

Technology: A 2020 Vision

While our school system debates their 2020 Vision by evaluating brick and mortar as well as program offerings in order to finally (hopefully) redistrict and consolidate our schools, others in the educational world are also creating 2020 Visions - technology based visions. While the redistricting in DCSS is certainly necessary, we have been stuck on this discussion for three years. I hope that this board will finally make these decisions and enable the system to move forward in focusing on providing the best education possible to our students, regardless of which building they attend.

The staff at T.H.E. Journal have compiled an article focused on the 2020 visions of leaders in educational technology. Entitled, 2020 Vision: Experts Forecast What the Digital Revolution Will Bring Next, you can read it here. The article interviews several leaders in technology, such as Mary McCaffrey, CEO of TH(i)NQ Ed, Karen Cator, director of the Office of Educational Technology within the US Department of Education and Linda Roberts, who headed the Office of Educational Technology until 2001, as well as others in educational technology.

McCaffrey:
What will be the next transformative step in tech-based education?
“I think we’re going to see the revolution from the students, if we can keep them engaged. We’ve separated the world of our students from their school world. When they go to school, the only thing they have is social—their friends they see. We block out the rest of the their life—their texting, their phones, their computers, for the most part their digital world. I don’t think the students are going to put up with that. The students will lead this revolution if we keep them engaged and give them hope that they can make use of these technologies that they love in their private lives and make use of them for learning. Teachers will come along with that because teachers’ role will change. In my 2020 vision, we’ll have teachers as facilitators and mentors, and the students will be directing, leading, and collaborating, even as early as elementary school. The relationship between students and teachers will be, on a whole, much different and more valuable.”

Cator:
What role can technology play in changing the way we assess students, teachers, and schools?
Race to the Top [which funds states whose education systems are moving toward the US Department of Education’s school reform goals] set aside $350 million for the states to create an entirely new generation of assessments. One of the problems with our current system is we have the testable standards, and then we have the ones we say are nice to have but that we can’t really test now. These have been relegated to “bubble” tests. The opportunity now is to go way beyond the bubble test, to create a new generation of assessments that can give us much better information for students, their teachers, the school, the district, and the system as a whole. The entire world of assessment is about to change dramatically, and technology is going to be central to that.

Let’s talk about textbooks. What will be the fate of the traditional one print textbook per student, per course, per grade level?
Cator:
I think over the next 18 months or so we’re going to see a transition from a predominantly print-based classroom to a digital classroom in which students have devices and the content is provided for them online in a much more flexible and customizable manner. We can take advantage of the power of technology to do things like simulations, visualizations, and games with better feedback, better adaptive materials, and better opportunities to personalize and conduct deep research on things that students are interested in. We’re going to move away from the notion of a print-based textbook toward a new platform. I’m hopeful about this.

Bailey:
There are all sorts of interesting revolutions that will come out of the movement toward interactive textbooks and multimedia. Using the Kindle app on my iPad, I’ve been loving the social highlighting feature in which you can see the passages in the book that hundreds of other people have highlighted and thought were important. That suddenly takes textbooks and reading to a whole new level. I’m not sure if I would agree with Karen that it’s 18 months away, but it’s closer than most people think it is.

How about this for a vision?

Thomas Frey, futurist, executive director of the DaVinci Institute
What barrier needs to be moved out of the way in the next 10 years to allow the education system to take advantage of the available technology?
“Who is the most famous school teacher in the world? I end up with a lot of blank stares when I ask that question. If I ask you who is the most famous radio talk-show host, you can probably name three or four. If I ask you who the most famous newspaper columnist is, you can probably name three or four of them. The difference is in one word: syndication. Teachers haven’t been able to syndicate their work because they’re owned by the institution they’re working for. We have fifth-grade math being taught by 10,000 teachers across the country every single day. Why do we have such a duplication of effort? Say there’s someone out there who is just exceptional at teaching fifth-grade math. Somehow they’ve mastered this like nobody else. We’re able to package it and deliver that course through some online medium that would enable students to learn from the best. They could sit at the feet of the true master, not the teacher who happens to have been hired for that job at their school. That teacher would become the most famous fifth-grade math teacher in the entire world. Teachers would become the celebrities of the students of that age.”

Let's start the discussion. What do we envision a DCSS classroom to really look like in 2020?

Make sure your opinion counts

I was perusing the responses to the online survey for the 2020 Vision and found that they had some themes:

• All schools are not perceived as equal. Even schools geographically close can be wildly inconsistent in educational opportunities.
• Therefore, people do not want to redistrict schools that currently do a very good job. 
• If the board simply rearranges attendance zones, people will either leave or move to be in the school zone of choice, making redistricting futile.
• These feelings are amplified at Fernbank, Dunwoody and Chamblee.
• Montgomery parents are upset at severe over-crowding.
• People are concerned about the impact of property values.
• People are concerned that they will lose their neighborhood feel and the ability to walk to school.
• The consensus on magnets is split. Many want the magnets left alone. Many think they usurp funds and opportunity.
• Overall, most respondents recognize that our schools have deteriorated into a vortex of disrepair and inequity. Parents that can, have worked very hard to improve and maintain a good neighborhood school. They will fiercely protect it.
• Many people commented that the board is not to be trusted. They questioned who is serving on the committee.

Some quotes:

Fernbank and Dunwoody seem to be the most prolific responders -

Fernbank elementary school has a lot of international kids from Emory families. Many of these families live around Emory University which is on the outer edge of the Fernbank school area. These kids contribute a lot to the credits of international baccalaureate for this school. In addition, most of these families pay attention to education very much, I do not think they will send their children to another school that they are not satisfied with if they are cut out of the Fernbank area. I heard many parents said that they will move into the new fernbank school area or move to the area of another good school, which will make consolidation less effective.

Please do not jeopardize the success of Fernbank elementary by redistricting.

Fernbank Elementary School is a great model. The district should not be altered which would chnage something that works very well.

Like where the kids are now at Vanderlyn. Would like very much if Oxford Chase subdivision stay at Vanderlyn

Chamblee HS responses were also high -

Keep magnet program at Chamblee HS

I do not wish to be redistricted away from Chamblee HS

And there was a fairly large supply of opinions from Towers HS parents who had these comments -

Keeping neighborhoods intact is very improtant to me. Towers HS has a new technology wing. This addition is vital to our future.

It is important that Towers HS receive all monies that have previously been allocated forimprovement in both science/technology as well as providing improvements that have been requested for exterior appearances. this should be compatible with schools in North DeKalb!

Treat this school like it was on the north side of town. give it the funding that those schools receive

In fact, to add to the north/south debate, someone left this comment -

North Dekalb gets too much money allocated. South Dekalb, darker in hue and having the bulk of the more impoverished neighborhoods, needs the funds to be at least evenly distributed. Why do we always have to threaten public exposure and discord in order to get what we pay for? Keep Wadsworth open and stop playing games to prevent enrollment increase. We need more Wadsworths in South Dekalb. That will improve the performance of the county as a whole educationally and justify greater federal funding.

(Oddly, there is only one response identified as being from Arabia. But then, none of this effects them. Most comments are from over-crowded schools in disrepair with an assigned attendance zone.)

Concerning property values, these are some responses -

concerned about very negative impact on housing values if neighborhood is redistricted to Cross Keys HS

Be very careful with your changes. Dekalb has lost a ton of families and students as of late. The wrong changes and Dekalb could lose much more in the wrong areas. Your choices can seriously affect property values and the tax base for the county. In this economy, Dekalb could turn into Clayton very quickly.

And overall, the mistrust of the school board was a consistent theme in the responses -

school board must establish trust, transparency, accountability

Nobody trusts the board.

I don't believe the BoE will implement the plan as delivered.

I found one comment that I think states the crux of the problem in a nutshell -

Redistricting is a futile effort if there is no coherent plan to bring all of our schools up to par academically. Parents whose children are in under-performing schools will always find a way to move their children to better schools.

But overall, I agree most with this comment -

Please place the goal of providing the best education experience for the children of the county at the very top of your list of goals.

===

At any rate - please go to the website and add your opinion. The school district is asking and posting them for the world to see - I'd call that transparent! Now do your part and participate!

Click here and then click Take the Survey. You can only take it once per computer, as the software keeps track of IP addresses and locks you out.

After that, make sure you attend one of the remaining Charettes below.

Henderson Middle School, Mon. Nov. 29, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Peachtree Middle School, Tue. Nov. 30, 6:30 – 8:30 PM

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Update: It looks like the word got out in the Lakeside cluster.  Many in that district have filled out the survey and want to maintain the Oak Grove, Henderson, Lakeside lines.  There is also a consensus to send all of Sagamore to Lakeside (some now go to Druid Hills). 


Keep it up! Please encourage folks from other school districts to fill out the survey! It seems that the only reason they aren't is because the awareness is too low. Spread the word.

For more information, read our some of our other posts on the subject,
School Closings and Transparency
New Attendance Data to Review
DeKalb County School Closures and Redistricting are coming and listen to Board Member Sarah Copelin-Wood argue at the inequities
Yeah Task Force!!!

Ma Charrette - Oh lá lá!

I went to the Chamblee Charrette and thought I'd report back. The turnout was enormous - I would estimate approximately 300-350 at a minimum were present. The overwhelming majority appeared to be from Chamblee attendance but there were a few Lakeside, Dunwoody, and Cross Keys folks present.

Add "large projection screen" to the wish list

Everyone gathered in the Bulldogs' gym for an intro - I missed the first fifteen minutes but the format was fairly simple. While the group was assembled, a brief summary slide show was presented describing the "2020 Vision" thing. Then the MGT of America folks passed out remotes to everyone and guided us through a few live survey questions with results projected over head (kewl!). That was fun but not particularly enlightening.

A sample question was something like, "Do you think portable classrooms are a viable, long-term solution for capacity planning?" Strongly Agree -> Strongly Disagree ... really?

After that, smaller groups of thirty or so split up and migrated to various rooms to fill out a simple form rating a school facilities (your choice). Then, a facilitator guided us through some questions and discussion points about priorities and concerns. Again, nothing particularly interesting or new here. Most folks in my group were Chamblee parents and talked a lot about the bad facilities and the lack of trust of leadership and absolute paranoia about being districted out of Chamblee.

At the end of our session, one astute CMS parent asked if the MGT reports would be available for the public to review. At which point, the lead consultant, Dr. Carnes (I think I have that correct) came over and said all reports would be available through the school system. I pointed out that having direct access to the reports would be a good idea since trust, or lack thereof, was the major theme of the night and offered up our humble blog as an alternate medium.

Dr. Carnes brought up the recommendations from a similar effort in St. Louis and suggested we could look at that to see what to expect in the final report. They took the todo to find it and I believe I have spotted it already here:

MGT Report for SLPS

He did say with great confidence that they will put everything on the table as they did in St. Louis. In that case, they recommended the closure of twenty-nine schools. In the end, that system closed seventeen of those recommended. He was very adamant that their report would include specific school closures and re-districting plans among other recommendations. So, I think we can expect a  very interesting report from them. Whether our leadership takes the recommendations to heart is an entirely different matter.

The irony of sitting in a planning charrette in CCHS was not lost on me. Whatever expert recommendations might end up in the MGT report about the CCHS area they are dead before the surveying is done and it is written. That ship has sailed and CCHS programs and attendance areas are now in a protected status. So this begs the question: If the System can manage planning CCHS facilities and attendance with no charrette, why is it necessary anywhere?

Discuss ...

Ensuring we don't put the charrette before the horse

According to a new flyer created by DCSS, the origin of a charrette, or "little cart" can be traced to 19th century Paris, France. Back then, architectural students at Ecole des Beaux wishing for their plans to be considered would scurry to submit their drawings by the designated hour. These "little carts" or charrettes would be brought around to collect the drawings and deliver them to a certain location for them to be displayed for the public to view. According to Wikipedia, the word charrette may refer to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem. In fact, the charrette protocol is used in many business, civic and educational planning - especially in early design stages, or when a group is more or less "stuck". Basically, architecturally speaking, a charrette is usually a public work session that seeks to formulate a plan or vision for the future of the community.

In their 2020 Vision, DCSS will be hosting a series of public discussions on plans for redistricting in the fashion of old Paris and in fact calling them "Public Charrettes". Attendees at the meetings will participate via an audience response system, answering questions regarding their opinions. The school system is looking for a broad base of public input, yet you can attend all of the meetings and ensure that your opinion is counted every time. (A very good idea, in my opinion.)

According to the discussion at today's Emory Lavista Parent Council, the redistricting plan will have a more or less, three-pronged approach. First, representatives will assess every single school building by conducting a physical walk-through (led by Parsons), then a group of DCSS staff will conduct a second set of walk-throughs focusing on the instructional use of the building (are rooms being used as intended -- are programs equitable -- are similar classes offered at every school) and third is the community input, the charrettes, which are being conducted by a third party consultant. Although overall, I think this is a wonderful plan, the one concern I have about the entire plan is the schedule - it is very compact - in fact, Ms. Tyson informed us that in order to complete these visits within the timeline, the teams will need to visit five schools per day.

The meetings (charrettes) are scheduled below. For a copy of the flyer, click here.

1. Chamblee High School, Tuesday November 9, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
2. Towers High School, Wednesday November 10, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
3. McNair High School, Monday November 15, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
4. MLK High School, Tuesday November 16, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
5. Stephenson High School, Wed. November 17, 6:30 – 8:30 PM

UPDATE: 

Two charrettes have been added: Nov 29th, Lakeside High School, and Nov 30, Peachtree Middle School, both at 6:30

The feedback from these charrettes will be summarized and presented to the board at its December 6, 2010 6:00 PM work session.

According to the DCSS website, "The 2020 Vision process is an 11-month process (October 2010 - August 2011) that will culminate in a 2020 Master Plan that will describe the facilities, programs, and other needs of the system over the next ten years and the recommended facility improvements required to meet these needs.

The master planning process will culminate in August 2011, which will lead up to a vote on SPLOST IV in mid-2012."