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EDUCATION
THURSDAY, MAY 24 - 30, 2018 • Page 15
Future of Cross Keys High still on minds of Brookhaven officials, students
Brookhaven officials met with DeKalb County School District officials May 7 to discuss alternatives to the decision by the DeKalb
County Board of Education to move Cross Keys High School out of Brookhaven.
BY DEREK SMITH
derek@dekalbchamp.com
Community stakeholders
and residents of Brookhaven
and the Cross Keys community
are continuing to work with
DeKalb County School District
(DCSD) officials after the
Board of Education voted at
its April meeting to build a
replacement to Cross Keys
High School (CKHS) east of
1-85 at the site of the former
Briarcliff High School.
The move will leave
Brookhaven without a high
school and, according to
students and concerned Cross
Keys stakeholders, will create
transportation challenges for
students in the Cross Keys
area. The April 16 DCSD board
of education vote was split
4-3, with board members who
represent districts that include
the Cross Keys community
voting against.
A resolution approved by
the Brookhaven City Council
April 24 directed Christian
Sigman to arrange a meeting
between city officials and
DCSD superintendent Stephen
Green to discuss the possibility
of constructing a new
Brookhaven High School along
Buford Highway. It also directs
the Brookhaven Development
Authority to “assess any and
all available tools to assist
in efforts to retain a public
high school within the city of
Brookhaven.”
Green and his staff met
with Sigman, Brookhaven
Mayor John Ernst and City
Councilmember Joe Gebbia
May 7.
“We tried to present a lot of
the pros in [building a school
in Brookhaven], and we just
wanted to make sure that they
knew that we were prepared
to partner with them,” Gebbia
told The Champion.
DCSD officials offered
several reasons for their
decision in an April 17
document. Including the
cost-neutral nature of the
Briarcliff site and the fear of
displacement of residents
along Buford Highway if a new
school were built there.
Gebbia said the city
presented ways it could work
with residential associations
to mitigate displacement of
residents if the district decides
to build along Buford Highway.
The city also offered to work
with the district to minimize
the cost of building closer to
the current CKHS site.
“My expectation was that
[district officials] would listen,
and that they maybe would
see an avenue they hadn’t
considered before,” Gebbia
said. “We knew the window of
opportunity was narrow, but
we hoped the argument was
strong enough that it would’ve
allowed for reconsideration.”
Gebbia said he felt after
the meeting that the two sides
hadn’t come any closer to an
agreement.
“It doesn’t appear we have,”
he said.
Other stakeholders in
the situation also tried to
sway DCSD to reconsider.
One teacher and four CKHS
students spoke at the May 14
board of education community
input session.
CKHS teacher and
president of the Cross Keys
Foundation Yehimi Cambron
spoke first on the issue, telling
the board she grew up in the
Cross Keys community. She
said that her experience gave
her a “very strong opinion”
about the board’s decision
to build the new high school
on the former Briarcliff High
School site.
“However, I’m not here to
share that opinion,” she said.
“Instead, I’m here to help a few
of my students share theirs.”
Cross Keys student
Amanda Perdomo said a
lack of communication kept
many members of the Cross
Keys community out of the
discussion. She asked board
members to come to the area
and speak with community
members.
Student Steven Aguliar
De Santiago also took issue
with the district’s lack of
communication, saying he
was upset with the perception
he has seen in the Cross Keys
community that it has taken
years to come to this decision
without any discussion with
community members.
“Not one single word. What
does that mean? Are we not as
important?” he asked.
He spoke of traffic concerns
along North Druid Hills Road
where the new school will
be, and how traffic may affect
students. He said he feared
it may make it difficult for
students to get to school on
time, get home at a decent
time, or get to after-school
jobs.
Two students expressed
concern with the Briarcliff
site’s distance from service of
the Royal Bus Line, a private
bus service that operates along
Buford Highway and Roswell
Road. Student Yarmileth
Jarquin suggested the district
implement a shuttle bus
service for students between
Buford Highway west of 1-85
and the new school to help
lessen traffic concerns. Student
Beni Martinez also suggested
a similar shuttle for parents for
transportation to CKHS.
Gebbia attended the session
and said he doubted the
students changed any minds.
“The kids came and made
their statements, but they were
just talking to people who were
being courteous and listening,”
he said.
Gebbia said he wished
the discussion this month on
the issue could’ve happened
before the vote. He said the
city may have relied too much
on its DCSD board member
to advocate for it and said the
city should have tried to bring
district officials to the table
sooner.
“But if we were deficient in
doing it, so were they,” he said.
“They didn’t reach out to us. I
thought we had a relationship.
I thought we had an open
line of communication where
we could discuss it, so I was
disappointed in that.”
He called the relationship
between Brookhaven officials
and DCSD “damaged,” but said
it won’t affect future decision
making for the city with
regards to the district.
“We’re always going to
make the decision that’s in the
best interest of the students.
Period,” he said.
REPORT OF STONE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT OF PROPOSED MILLAGE RATE
In compliance with O.C.G.A. §48-5, the Stone Mountain Community Improvement
District (“CID”) reports that at its meeting on June 12, 2018, beginning at 7:30 A.M.
at the Pierre Construction Group, 1677 Lewis Way, Stone Mountain, DeKalb County,
Georgia 30083, the Stone Mountain CID Board of Directors will vote upon a proposal
to levy an ad valorem taxation rate of 5 mills, and will set its millage rate for the
lawful purposes of the District for the current calendar year. Set forth below are the
assessed taxable values of the properties subject to taxes for the current year and
the immediately preceding five calendar years, the total dollar amount of ad valorem
taxes proposed to be levied for the current year and levied in the immediately
preceding five calendar years, as well as the percentage and dollar increases or
decreases with respect to each immediately preceding calendar year. All property
levied upon is real property.
Assessed Value
Taxes Levied
% Change
$ Change
2013
$125,777,273
$628,886
32%
$ 153,453
2014
$136,005,547
$680,028
8%
$ 51,142
2015
$142,901,125
$714,505
5%
$ 34,477
2016
$172,551,407
$862,757
21%
$ 148,252
2017
$176,545,658
$882,728
2%
$ 19,971
2018proposed
$227,995,657
$1,139,978
29%
$ 257,250
J. Lynn Rainey, PC, 358 Roswell Street, Suite 1130, Marietta, Georgia 30060; (770) 421-6040
Attorney for CID - State Bar No. 592350