Empty seats in our schools are not harmless. They come with real costs, and our students pay them every day.
The DeKalb County School District is built to educate about 110,000 students. Today, we serve just under 92,000. Enrollment has been declining for more than a decade, and projections indicate that trend will continue not just in DeKalb, but across our state and nation. That gap of 18,000-plus empty student seats means we are operating a system designed for far more children than we currently serve.
When buildings are underused, resources are spread thin. Dollars that should support direct instruction, academic programs and student services are instead spent on maintaining space we no longer need at the same scale.
This reality affects students directly.
Credit: Photo courtesy DeKalb County School District
Credit: Photo courtesy DeKalb County School District
Declining enrollment shows up in fewer course offerings, limited access to electives and Advanced Placement classes, smaller extracurricular programs, longer bus routes and fewer staffing supports for teachers. Over time, opportunities become uneven. A child’s educational experience can then depend too much on where they live and not enough on what they are capable of achieving.
That is not acceptable. We owe it to each of our families to equip each school with all of the personnel, curricular, instructional, extracurricular and operational resources we can possibly provide.
I appreciate that this conversation is not solely about numbers. It is about elevating conditions and experiences for children. Schools are deeply personal places. They hold legacy, memories, traditions and a sense of belonging that spans generations. For many families, the idea of school consolidation, boundary adjustments or transitions feels like a loss of identity. That concern is real and must be acknowledged.
We have heard families clearly. At community meetings. In small group discussions. Through emails. In candid conversations filled with honest emotion and hard questions. Every school leader, educator and family will be impacted in some way by the Student Assignment Project, often referred to as SAP. With that comes anxiety and questions about whether voices will truly be heard.
They will be.
The Student Assignment Project is a comprehensive, data-driven effort grounded in evidence and furthered by community input. Over the last 20 months, we have convened a 150-member SAP steering committee made up of volunteer parents, staff and community stakeholders. The next phases include wide-scale community engagement on scenarios for substantive feedback from all district stakeholders. We are also working with independent experts, including HL Strategies and HPM Group, to support our community feedback collection, analyze enrollment trends, facility conditions and operational realities objectively. They have supported school districts around the country with similar processes for years, including HPM Group recently with Atlanta Public Schools.
Our efforts are guided by important factors such as student distance from school, building capacity, and the age and condition of facilities. These factors are reviewed on a five-year cycle tied to ESPLOST referendums to ensure long-term planning and sustainability.
Equally important, this process is iterative. We present scenarios. We gather feedback. We refine. Then we return to the community for more input on revised scenarios. Final recommendations will not be made until Fall 2026, and any board-approved changes would be phased in gradually over multiple years.
This work is about aligning resources with today’s realities, so every student has access to strong academic programs, arts, athletics, and safe, modern learning environments. It is not simply about cost-cutting. It is about making sure future dollars are directed to instruction and student supports in the most tangible ways, and not to half-empty buildings.
The choices we make today will shape the opportunities available to DeKalb students tomorrow. Community engagement in the Student Assignment Project is essential. Together, we can reimagine our district as educationally focused, fiscally sustainable and committed to success for each student.
I invite you to review the scenarios and offer your feedback online or by attending one of our upcoming meetings. www.dekalbschoolsga.org/sap
Norman C. Sauce III is the interim superintendent of the DeKalb County School District.
If you have any thoughts about this article, or if you’re interested in writing an op-ed for the AJC’s education page, drop us a note at education@ajc.com.
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