DeKalb schools expecting enrollment decline for another year

In 2017, enrollment in the metro Atlanta school system topped 100,000 students. Enrollment has declined each year, with the largest drop happening in 2020 to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Credit: Photo provided by DeKalb County School District

Credit: Photo provided by DeKalb County School District

The district’s enrollment largely determines how much funding it will receive from the state.

In addition to uncertainty because of the pandemic, district officials said the overall decline in recent years has to do with lower birth rates. Board members worried at the December meeting that new housing construction to draw new residents — and students — hasn’t been able to make up the difference.

“We’re not attracting the same number of families that we used to be attracting,” said board member Allyson Gevertz. “We’re not attractive.”

She suggested the district work with its partners at the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, the county government and MARTA to consider things like expanding the MARTA line or offering tax breaks. The hope is that encouraging such economic development will entice more people to move to that area.

“Economic development is very different on the south side of the district than it is on the north side,” said board chair Vickie Turner. “As a community, I’m tired of Church’s Chicken. I’m tired of just gas stations. I understand the value they bring to the community, but you’re talking about economic development and there’s a disparity.”

Board member Deirdre Pierce suggested that it’s difficult to encourage economic development when some say DeKalb schools are subpar.

“The perception of our schools, it outweighs everything else we’ve talked about here,” she said. “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure that our students are achieving at a level that they should be achieving.”

The district will publish a long-term enrollment forecast in March.