DeKalb County School District’s Master Planning process includes an evaluation of all school and administrative facilities, as well as the infrastructure to support the educational mission of the District. This process includes gathering data about school facilities that will be used to develop priorities for the next Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) project list.
The Masterplan Process includes several major types of activities:
1. Facility Condition Assessments (FCA):
Specially-trained consultants, as well as architectural, engineering and construction professionals, will be evaluating facility each facility, looking at every building system (e.g., the condition of the windows, the roof, and the HVAC system.) The principal, head custodians, and plant engineers will be amongst the team who observe this assessment. Please visit the Facility Condition Questionnaire for questions and answers pertaining to assessments of each school.
2. Educational Suitability Assessments (ESA):
A consultant team will evaluate each school building looking at how well the facility supports the educational goals of that type of school relative to the District’s Educational Specifications. For example, in an Elementary School do the Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms have appropriate support spaces such as restrooms and storage? In Middle and High Schools is there a Professional Learning Center (teacher collaboration area) in the learning area? In general, is the main office properly located and configured with a secure vestibule to the main corridor?
3. Demographic Projections, Enrollment, Capacity, and Utilization:
A team of demographers will analyze the District’s demographics using a range of data sources including the census, IRS Migration Studies, New Home Sales and Existing Home Sales. These will be used to develop enrollment projections by attendance area, school, and grade level. This analysis will in turn help the District evaluate current school utilization and forecast future utilization relative to existing facilities. These forecasts will also be used to inform future redistricting scenarios.
4. Public Input:
Throughout the masterplan process, the consultant team will solicit input from all stakeholders including the general public, school leadership and staff, district leadership and staff, parents and students. The public engagement process will include a large-scale community survey, school-specific surveys, public meetings and smaller-scale engagement activities such as focus groups and workshops. The input collected during this process will be shared at all stages of the process.
Overall Project Workflow