They will hold public hearings from Jan. 8 to 17 to gather public input before taking a final vote on the plan on Jan. 23 to a meet a deadline to qualify for construction funding.
The board was to vote on the draft on Dec. 10, but in the face of mounting opposition from parents and students, it voted instead to delay the vote.
Board members also put off a vote on an Atkinson’s request for $80 million in bonds to speed up school construction.
During Monday’s meeting, angry parents from Evansdale Elementary spoke against proposed attendance lines they said would adversely affect their children and thousands of others in the Northlake area.
Parents from Southwest DeKalb spoke against Atkinson’s earlier plan to move sixth- through eighth-grade students to Southwest DeKalb, Cedar Grove and McNair high schools to save money.
Atkinson dropped the idea after strong opposition.
Parents also are upset that the redrawn attendance map calls for feeder middle schools’ magnet programs to be diverted from Southwest DeKalb High, disrupting the flow of talented students to the high school.
Mark Seals, a Southwest DeKalb father, and other parents said they would fight the plan with lawsuits if necessary.
“You’re proposing changes to successful academic programs but are not giving us specifics as to how they will benefit us,” Seals said.
The public hearings are:
-- Jan. 8 - McNair High, 1804 Bouldercrest Road S.E. in Atlanta.
-- Jan. 10 - Miller Grove High, 2645 DeKalb Medical Parkway in Lithonia.
-- Jan. 15 - Tucker High, 5036 LaVista Road in Tucker.
-- Jan. 16 - Dunwoody High, 5035 Vermack Road in Dunwoody.
-- Jan. 17 - DeKalb Schools Administrative and Instructional Complex, 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd. in Stone Mountain.
The meetings take place 6 to 7:30 p.m. and begin with a 30-minute presentation by staff, followed by 60 minutes of comment from the public.
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