DeKalb County School District
The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) is a school district headquartered at 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, near Stone Mountain and in the Atlanta metropolitan area. DCSD operates public schools in areas of DeKalb County that are not within the city limits of Atlanta and Decatur. It will serve a portion of Atlanta annexed by that city in 2018 until 2024, when that portion will be re-assigned to Atlanta Public Schools (APS). The school district is overseen by the seven-member DeKalb County Board of Education. The interim superintendent /CEO is, as of November 11, 2019, Mrs. Ramona Tyson. The system educates more than 102,000 students at 138 schools with more than 14,000 full-time employees and 6,000 teachers. In 2018, the school system graduated over 5,800 students from high school. The district includes three of the top-ranked schools in the nation in 2018 according to U.S. News and World Report. The DeKalb School of the Arts earned a gold designation after being ranked No. 75 overall, and No. 2 in Georgia. Chamblee Charter High School also earned a gold designation, ranking No. 457 nationwide and No. 14  in Georgia. The Arabia Mountain High School Academy of Engineering-Medicine performed well enough to earn a silver designation, ranking No. 58 in Georgia. DeKalb Early College Academy earned a bronze designation, ranking No. 68 in Georgia. DCSD is also home to Henderson Mill Elementary School, the first STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) certified school in Georgia. History. Accreditation. In 2017, the DeKalb County School District received a full, five-year renewal of its accreditation from AdvancED, through 2022. The renewal comes after the district regained full accreditation in 2016. On December 17, 2012, the Southern Association of  Colleges and Schools announced that it had downgraded the DeKalb County School District's status from "on advisement" to "on probation" and warned the school system that the loss of their accreditation was "imminent." On January 21, 2014, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that it had upgraded the DeKalb County School District's status from "probation" to "accredited warned" which is below full accreditation status. Academic Achievement. In 2017, the DCSD College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) score increased to 70, up from 66 in 2016. Since 2016, the CCRPI score for elementary schools increased five  points; middle schools increased three points; and high schools increased nearly one full point. In 2017, more than 2,500 students in DCSD took the ACT, earning a composite score of 19.8, compared to last year's composite score of 19.4. That same year, more than 3,500 students took the SAT; the district's total composite score continues to improve year-over-year. DeKalb's 2017 total mean score for the SAT was 980. The four-year graduation rate for DCSD's Class of 2017 was 74 percent, a four-point increase from the 2016 graduation rate of 70 percent. Between  2013 and 2017, the District graduation rate improved 14 percentage points. Indictment Former DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis was indicted in 2012, along with former DeKalb County Schools Chief Operating Officer Pat Pope (Reed), and others, on criminal charges related to a school construction scandal. The indictment listed four counts of racketeering, as well as theft by taking and bribery. Shooting and hostage situation. On August 20, 2013, a man with an AK-47 entered the front office of Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, an elementary school, and barricaded himself. He fired six shots at police officers outside, who  returned fire. The school's students were evacuated. Antoinette Tuff, a school bookkeeper, was able to convince him to surrender without further violence; she was later praised by President Barack Obama for her courage and calmness in defusing the situation. Bus drivers' strike. From April 19–23, 2018 nearly 400 school bus drivers for the district participated in a strike over low pay and little employee benefits. Inspired in part by the concurrent nationwide teacher strikes in states such as West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona, bus drivers for the district planned a "sick-out". About 42 percent of bus drivers in  the county participated, causing nearly 60-90 minute delays in students being picked up for school. As a right-to-work state, public sector employees are prohibited in Georgia from striking. The strike resulted in at least 7 bus drivers, particularly ones who helped organize the strike, being terminated of employment. Emory and CDC annexation by Atlanta. The City of Atlanta, in 2017, agreed to annex territory in DeKalb County, including the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University, effective January 1, 2018. In 2016 Emory University made a statement that "Annexation of Emory into the City of Atlanta will  not change school districts, since neighboring communities like Druid Hills will still be self-determining regarding annexation." By 2017 the city agreed to include the annexed area in the boundaries of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), a move decried by the leadership of the DeKalb county district as it would take taxable property away from that district. In 2017 the number of children living in the annexed territory who attended public schools was nine. The area ultimately went to APS, and as part of a 2019 settlement Emory would help establish school-based clinics for DeKalb schools. Students will be rezoned  to APS effective 2024; they will be zoned to DeKalb schools before then. Schools and centers. Elementary schools. Zoned Optional Middle schools. Zoned High schools. Zoned Optional Centers. Alternative Centers: Athletics. The district offers 17 athletic programs and earned 253 state championships dating back to 1938; the majority of the titles came from track and field and wrestling. The county provides five athletic stadiums: