Parents Frustrated Over Druid Hills High Transfer Students

Frustrated parents at have sent a letter to the DeKalb County School System trying to stop the transfer of more than 200 students to Druid Hills High School.

The school system, according to the letter, is transferring the students as part of its compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The middle school feeds into Druid Hills High, which is accepting about 200 transfer students from other schools.

Here's the letter, which was posted on the middle school's Facebook page:

Last week the Dekalb County School System (DCSS) presented its plan to comply with No Child Left Behind which included transferring approximately 200 students to DHHS. Our parent community in attendance at all three meetings raised numerous issues, but we found that the County provided little data or information to support their current proposed plan.

A group of concerned parents met this weekend to discuss alternatives. As of now, we see no safe or responsible plan to accommodate the additional students.
Please show us data to support the following aspects of the proposed DCSS transfer plan:

· Evidence that DHHS which is already overcapacity can safely accommodate hundreds of additional students;

· Evidence that last-minute transfers is academically beneficially to all students;

· A parking plan that guarantees parent access to the school for required school meetings;

· A safety access plan for emergency vehicles;

· An emergency exit plan to safely transport students under Homeland Security;

· A plan for the common space usage which incl. Cafeteria, Media Center and restrooms to accommodate hundreds of additional students;

In summary, we believe the current proposed plan will create a chaotic situation that benefits no students.

Are there any other schools out there receiving students? Patch has a story planned for later this week.