Click below for the FAQ document issued by the district following the September 9 BOE meeting. Two Arts School sections are:
8. How is a project removed from an E-SPLOST program (e.g. Arts School)? Is the District required to complete the project? Projects are removed from an E-SPLOST program by having any available budget reallocated to other projects within the program. If a project was included in an E-SPLOST referendum (e.g. the Arts School in E-SPLOST IV), then the project must be declared infeasible by the District and a public hearing must be held. Please note that E-SPLOST V’s project list in the voter-approved referendum provided five broad improvement areas
16. What is the “Arts School” project? Why are there multiple options for the Arts School? What are the options being considered? The Arts School, also referred to as the Comprehensive Arts School or K-12 Arts School, is a project to combine the DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts (DESA) and Dekalb School of the Arts (DSA) at the former Avondale MS (current DESA) site. DESA is a performing and visual arts magnet program with students in grades kindergarten through grade seven from all over DeKalb. DSA is a performing and visual arts magnet program with students in grades eight through twelve from all over DeKalb. The new school was proposed to be a new Comprehensive Arts School: a performing and visual arts magnet school with grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade at the current DESA facility/Former Avondale MS (3131 Old Rockbridge Road, Avondale Estates, 30002). The Comprehensive Arts School is expected to have no reduction in the number of seats available to both programs, and no major changes to programming. The DESA facility does not have a theater/auditorium or high-school vocational instruction spaces. The Arts School project was intended to add these spaces to the DESA facility to accommodate the higher-grades.
The Former Avondale High School facility was intended to be a temporary location for DSA until the completion of the Arts School project. Because of the project delays and budget issues of the Arts School project, funds for repairs to the Former Avondale HS facility could be considered if the project is canceled or further delayed. An alternative vision for the Arts School under consideration (but not proposed) is to build a new, larger facility that would include a performing arts center. Such a facility could be rented out for special events and be a venue for high-school graduation ceremonies. However, the Arts School/Performing Arts Center would require the District to purchase a site with at least 20 acres and budget more than $70 million for construction.
Full document is here.