In an effort to tackle inequitable access to resources and promote quality education, Atlanta Public Schools has been forming its Comprehensive Long Range Facilities Plan, commonly known as APS Forward 2040.

The APS board unanimously approved their facility recommendations on Dec. 3, planning to repurpose or close 16 schools in the district.

“The goal of APS Forward 2040 is to ensure that every student has access to a high-quality education in a safe, well-resourced environment,” District 3 Board Member Ken Zeff said. “In some cases, this may mean bringing students together in facilities that can offer more robust academic programs, specialized services and extracurricular opportunities. APS remains committed to transparency, partnership and thoughtful planning, working with families every step of the way to preserve community identity while ensuring all students thrive.”

Beyond a focus on robust programming across K-12 education, APS Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson said the second goal of APS Forward is to ensure efficient and sustainable use of the district’s resources.

“The second opportunity that we have through APS 2040 is to make sure that we position the district from a sustainability standpoint, an official standpoint for the next 15 years plus,” Johnson said. “As we start to talk about our financial outlook, our facilities outlook, [we are] really trying to take into consideration where Atlanta’s headed, where our community’s headed and how our student needs fit into that picture and ultimately drive that picture and marry those two things together.”

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: As part of Atlanta Public School’s plan to promote district-wide quality education, APS Forward 2040, they have held public meetings, town halls and cluster-based workshops where families could review draft scenarios. (CREDIT: Atlanta Public Schools)

As of October 2025, APS had 59,575 seats for merely 40,076 students, an overall utilization rate of 67.3%. Zeff said this data, along with school-specific data, was used to inform APS Forward.

“The district also analyzed enrollment projections, facility condition assessments, demographic trends and financial data to understand where schools are under- or over-utilized,” Zeff said. “These data help APS align facilities and programs with current and future student enrollment while ensuring resources are used efficiently to support high-quality learning environments.”

While APS had a third-party, HPM, analyzing data, they also relied on community input. They held public meetings, town halls and cluster-based workshops where families could review draft scenarios. Additionally, they implemented online surveys, community emails and open board discussions for further feedback.

To promote further community involvement, the district formed a task force with representatives from each of the 10 clusters. Midtown parent Melanie Levs was one of the 13 task force representatives from the Midtown cluster.

“APS put out the word that they were forming this task force and asked people to apply,” Levs said. “They also pulled in GO Team chairs from each school in APS and then took applications from interested stakeholders. The goal is to have representation from every single school in the district.”

Lynley Teras, Candler Park Education Chair and Cluster Advisory Representative for Mary Lin Elementary School Governance Team, served on the task force representing the Midtown cluster. She noted that each cluster in the Task Force worked in a silo, a dynamic she said undermined cohesiveness. 

“I think the Task Force members expected greater involvement in the APS Forward 2040 plans,” Teras said. “Oftentimes during our sessions, we were divided by cluster and unable to commingle, exchange thoughts and ideas or brainstorm across cluster lines which would have been helpful. I think it was useful as a tool to represent communities and provide information back to our communities, but members were not involved in feedback and collaboration for solutions.”

Dr. Johnson said the disparities in facility quality and programming are mostly based on school sizing, not funding per pupil.

“When we think about some of our smaller elementary schools in particular, there are limitations in what they can provide,” Dr. Johnson said. “It’s not even based on what they receive per pupil; they actually receive much more per pupil at our smaller campuses. It’s the economies of scale and what you can provide just based on the amount of resources you have. As enrollment ebbs and flows, the severity of the impact [changes]. For instance, an enrollment decline is huge on a small campus that might have 200 students. If they’re down 15 students in a year, it may mean that you’re losing a third-grade feature. Whereas a campus that has 700 or 800 students, if it’s down 10 or 15 students, they have the benefit of the economies of scale.”

In addition to balancing enrollment, Dr. Johnson said the APS Forward plan hopes to foster equal access to other opportunities.

“There are other things like social-emotional support and thinking about whether it’s a counselor, a social worker, SROs, but ensuring all those resources are consistent across campuses,” Dr. Johnson said. “Those things are at the core of trying to get something that is really complicated right for the community.”

APS plans to repurpose Douglass High School 9th Grade, Jackson Primary Elementary School, KIPP Soul Primary (charter), KIPP Soul Academy (charter), Smith Intermediate Elementary School, Sylvan Middle School and Toomer Elementary School Annex.

The district also plans to close Cleveland Elementary School, Continental Colony Elementary School, Dunbar Elementary School, Finch Elementary School, F L Stanton Elementary School, Perkerson Elementary School, Peyton Forest Elementary School, Scott Elementary School and Usher Collier Elementary School. Zeff said the district considered all perspectives before coming to any conclusions.

“APS understands that the possibility of losing a neighborhood school is deeply personal for families,” Zeff said. “These schools are often the heart of a community, and any decision to consolidate or reconfigure schools will be made only after careful analysis, community input and a focus on what best supports students’ learning and long-term success.”

The APS Student and Family Support Hub opened in October 2024. Repurposing the previous Oglethorpe Elementary School building, APS now offers families a free grocery store, counseling services and more. Dr. Johnson cited this transition as a past example of positive repurposing.

“I signed up to be on the repurposing subcommittee of the task force, so I look forward to diving into this process,” Levs said. “It is going to be a long one. Each individual building has its own backstory and issues, each neighborhood has its own needs and wants, and APS and the Board of Education ultimately will decide what happens. We do desperately need more wraparound services in many of these communities like early childcare, pre-K, healthcare centers, after-school activities and hang-out spaces, small businesses, etc.”

“The old Oglethorpe Elementary is serving as a community hub that currently houses a little bit of our registration function for parents and such, but is also a place where we do food drives,” Dr. Johnson said. “It’s a place where we do a little bit of training. Folks can come in and access spaces and we’ll continue to service the community that way.”

The current recommendation includes converting the Carver Early College Facility to a 6th-12th grade, district-wide School of the Arts and Early College High School. 

“We want to double down on the early college experience at Carver,” Dr. Johnson said. “We wanted to be even more robust and even more intentional, in addition to the arts opportunity. When you think about the arts, you obviously have the professional side of things in the career side of things, whether it’s the performing arts, the culinary arts or something on the music tech side. You have a career side, but you have just the genuine creativity and exposure to the field and the way it challenges minds in a different way.”

In addition to a specialized School of the Arts, Dr. Johnson said the district wants to improve the STEAM curriculum, specifically considering the healthcare industry.

“We’re thinking about things like the medical field,” Dr. Johnson said. “We talk about where there are careers and where there are opportunities. We’re in conversations, partnering with medical institutions about providing our students a deep and more robust experience in that field as well. You start to think about student interest and opportunity. It’s everything in STEAM realm. It’s the science, the technology, the engineering, the arts, the math, those areas are really important, and we believe that a lot of public school students deserve the absolute best in those spaces.”

Even though the district averages a 67.3% utilization rate, the Midtown, Jackson and North Atlanta clusters are defined as overutilized. APS currently plans to add 300 seats to Midtown High School. Teras believes the combination of repurposing and seat additions will balance enrollment for all three overutilized clusters.

“For Midtown High School plans, as a solution for current and future enrollment, HPM, a consulting company contracted by APS, has recommended a 300-seat addition to the school, to account for its current and future student enrollment numbers,” Teras said. “Furthermore, APS is exploring both an Arts Magnet and CTAE [Career, Technical and Agricultural Education] medical program that will be available for anyone in the cluster to apply. These two recommendations are effective solutions which will alleviate pressure on Midtown, Jackson and North Atlanta and allow for the maximum number of students to continue to succeed under their preferred programming.”

CREDIT: Atlanta Public Schools

CHANGE ENSUING: Dr. Patricia Ford, Interim Executive Director of Student Services, speaks at John Lewis Invictus Academy on Nov. 19, 2025 at an APS Forward 2040 Visioning Meeting. APS Forward held several community and planning meetings before they formed and approved their facility recommendations.

Dr. Johnson said the plan, as a whole, aims to make the most efficient use of the over 10.2 million square feet across the 75 educational facilities in the district.

 “We think about in general places where the community can benefit,” Dr. Johnson said. “We see and believe that we have a responsibility to activate sites that aren’t K-12 schools, so early learning will be one of those areas. By activate, I mean a lot of places, you can ride by and see an old campus that has not been used as a school for many years. We believe we have a responsibility to leverage those sites for things that do good for the community. We’ll be exploring all means and manners to make sure that we maximize the benefit the facility brings.”

Zeff hopes that with the rollout of APS 2040, students across the district will gain access to resources that prepare them for life beyond school.

“I believe we need to build a plan that unlocks opportunity and resources for every student,” Zeff said. “As a system, we owe all children access to a high-quality education that prepares them for college, career and life. The conversation about aligning resources with student enrollment is happening not only in Atlanta, but across the region and the country.”

With the plan’s timeline extending through the next 15 years, Teras notes the necessity of evolution and adaptation to the district’s changing needs.

“I think it’s smart for APS to plan for the future,” Teras said. “However, I’m hesitant to put full faith in plans presented today as solutions for 2040. I think it’s important both for APS to grow and evolve and for stakeholders to stay engaged and vigilant as a check on the APS system.”

Zeff believes that although change may evoke short-term concern among residents, the ultimate goal is to prioritize students.

“My hope is that through this process, we can make strategic, equity-driven investments that strengthen teaching and learning, modernize our facilities and expand access to the kinds of programs every student deserves,” Zeff said. “If we do this work thoughtfully and together, I’m confident that 10 years from now, we’ll look back and see that APS charted a sustainable, student-centered path forward.”

Dr. Johnson believes the implementation of the plan will place APS on the best trajectory.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure APS is positioned for the future,” Dr. Johnson said. “We think this is an important step in that direction.”

Contributions by Zelda Lerner