New school to replace Gresham Park Elementary, if voters pony up

DeKalb County is considering a brand new school to replace Gresham Park Elementary, and may rent out Sky Haven Elementary.

Both schools in southeastern DeKalb County were one of eight institutions which closed at the end of this school year when the county board of education voted in March on a plan designed to save millions in annual costs.

But the Gresham build, and many others, depend on DeKalb voters choosing to continue a school tax.

Gresham Park scored 56 out of 100 on a rating of school facilities, condition and technology last year. So a consultant hired by the county to help them plan capital spending suggests a rebuild is a better value than a renovation.

Sky Haven scored 48 on the same test. It will not open in the fall. It might be leased out, but it is not set to house students or administrators again.

But the new Gresham school would have to be funded by a special local option sales tax, or SPLOST. That penny tax is already in place, but it's set to expire in 2012. In order for the school board to do all the rebuilds and repairs recommended by the consultant's report, DeKalb voters will need to approve collecting the tax for five more years, until 2017.

A Gresham rebuild would probably not happen until 2013 at the earliest.

"There are going to be more needs than there's money to address. It's always like that," consultant Edward Humble of MGT America cautioned the school board as he presented the plan.

Humble suggests six new elementary schools countywide, plus major renovations at many others. His plan moves toward uniform-sized schools: 900 for elementaries, 1,200 for middle schools and 1,600 for high schools. The school board had previously adopted those targets.

But the plan admittedly does not account for population rises.

"We're using the funds just to keep up with what we have," said Humble.

Indeed, his list of suggestions is flexible. He recommended that the school board review population changes every year and tweak the plan accordingly.

To put the question in front of voters in November 2011, the school board must first approve a list of what they'd buy with the money.  Besides the builds, SPLOST funds would pay for things like bus fleet maintenance and other operations.

DeKalb is accepting public comment on Humble's plan through June 1 via its website. Then it's up to the board to accept, reject or modify the plan and then put it in front of voters.

If voters approve, the SPLOST will be the fourth five-year school tax. But well-publicized dysfunction might make it a hard sell. Schools have been without a permanent superintendent since Feb. 2010, when incumbent Crawford Lewis came under investigation by the district attorney for alleged racketeering. He, his chief operating officer and two associates have since been indicted. This spring, the board had identified three apparently willing candidates for the job, but all three backed out during negotiations.