APS Redistricting: Who Actually Goes To Their In-Zone Schools

Since Atlanta Public Schools' demographics consultants released their suggested schools attendance maps, the different East Atlanta Patch neighborhoods have released their various position statements responding to those ideas.

One complaint we've heard from parents is that in some of those statements, a few neighborhoods posit that children of other communities should be redistricted into their attendance zones.

But the parents we've heard from counter how can one community tell another where its children should go, especially when the community making the demand doesn't even send its own children to its in-zone school.

We thought it was a valid point, so we looked at the numbers to see where the children of East Atlanta Patch actually go to school at the elementary grade level.

Not surprisingly, schools in better academic standing had higher attendance rates from in-zone students. Mary Lin Elementary in Candler Park for example, has 586 students zoned for the school, which includes the Inman Park and Lake Claire communities. Ninety-five percent — 560 students — of all kids zoned for Mary Lin attend the school.

In comparison, Ed S. Cook Elementary, a poor-performing school, has 458 students in its attendance zone, which includes Cabbagetown, Reynoldstown, Capitol Gateway, Summerhill, and a portion of Grant Park. But only 53 percent, or 245 students zoned for Cook actually go there.

The reasons why people choose to send their children to out-of-zone, private/parochial or charter schools range from concerns about academic performance to a particular program those children need to religious instruction.

We put together a comparison chart of the different schools in East Atlanta Patch to show where children actually go, based on information from APS and the demographers' reports.