Mounting stress on the School System
The current school year is in full swing with both new and returning students heading back to the halls of education. Morning traffic reigns dominance on increasing delays by more school buses and high school students on the road. Test scores are at their lowest while student population is at its highest.
Overdevelopment is the main contributor to the stresses the School System is undergoing. There are not enough schools, more teachers are desperately needed and class sizes are maximized. As the population continually increases at an alarming rate, schools are forced to cope with demands faster than ever.
Public schools in Douglas County were established in the same year the county came into existence in 1870. An excerpt from The Weekly Star, January 1883, states the following about the original district lines:
Douglas County school districts were based on militia districts. Three trustees were appointed by the Grand Jury to each district - they served without pay and it was their duty to recommend teachers to the Board of Education. The District Trustees were under mandate to select school sites and were further instructed there could “be no school except at the points selected by the District’s Trustees. As many schools as are absolutely necessary for the accommodation of the pupils must be located and no more.”
Douglas County High School
Holly Springs Elementary
The new Bill Arp Elementary
A row of mobile classrooms at Alexander High
Mobile classrooms behind Chapel Hill High
Certainly times have changed since the late 1800s. The school year is no longer determined by farming timetables and audacious rules like no tagging or throwing rocks. Today’s School System is much more modern with education being dependent on technology. However the quality of education is considerably lacking from the increases of student population relative to overdevelopment.
Since 1991 student population has been slowly increasing at an average rate of 3.7%. By 2001 student population began spiking and has yet to let up. Two years prior was the opening of Arbor Place Mall which served as the catalyst of the current population boom. Over the course of 14 years student population has risen by 48.5%, last year alone was a 10.9% increase - the highest recorded over the fourteen year period.
Another disturbing factor is amount of mobile classrooms scattered about the county. The current count of mobile classrooms is 251, all of which are located at every school campus and at the Board of Education. Additional trailers are expected to be installed at campuses as student population increases at its present rate.
Then there is the need for teachers which grows annually. Despite student population increases, teachers are finding it harder to succeed. The job of a teacher is greatly stressful, but when a better, more fulfilling job opportunity appears a teacher is more likely to leave. There are simply not enough benefits, adequate pay and respect for teachers in Douglas County.
There are a total of 29 public schools: 19 elementary, 6 middle, and 4 high school with the addition of a middle school alternative program, high school alternative program, night school program and the new Performance Learning Center. More schools are needed as a result of the 251 mobile classrooms with today’s student population of 22,926 (excluding night school).
Losing Georgia has confirmed three new schools in District 3: Bill Arp Elementary (replacement), Chapel Hill Elementary (replacement) and Factory Shoals Middle. The new middle school will be on State Route 92 south of Anneewakee Trails subdivision. Bill Arp Elementary opened this school year while Chapel Hill Elementary and Factory Shoals Middle will open next year.
There are no plans so far to construct another high school in the western part of the county despite the need. Alexander High serves for the western half of the county, yet numerous mobile classrooms have been built on site. District 4 will need more schools as the current count of residential developments is at 30.
The School System also reserves the right to use Eminent Domain at their disposal if need be, though the system prefers not to for securing land. Residents may remember that Eminent Domain was authorized by the Georgia General Assembly to construct Chapel Hill Elementary on Coursey Lake Road. Losing Georgia was started as a result of that issue and continued to photograph the new school grounds and other areas in Douglas County.
Lastly the School System’s website is, for lack of a better word, obsolete. Information is updated about once a week due to a contract with an outside vendor who controls the updating process. Also each school maintains their own website, which is outside the School System’s network. There are plans for the system to run and maintain their website in house to cut down costs and have information more readily available.
Both local governments consistently approve developments regardless of the factors listed above for the School System alone. With more subdivisions and apartment complexes continually being constructed, stresses on the School System will only be harder to bear. When will the County learn to “practice what they preach” by enstilling smarter development?
Losing Georgia would like to thank Brenda Spain and Karen Stroud, Community Relations Director, at the Douglas County School System for providing the information above. The Douglas County School System will always do their part to provide education to all students well into the future.
It seems to me that if the “powers that be” in Douglas County would pay more attention to the quality of the citizens they allow to move here rather than the quantity, our schools would not be so overburdened and “thugged out”. Has anybody payed any attention to the condition of the public schools and general scenery in this county lately? It looks just like the streets of downtown Atlanta, and I’m not talking about the shrubbery. Truly, the citizens of this county have been sacrificed at the altar of the allmighty dollar and in case you haven’t noticed, we’re not the ones getting paid……
September 18th, 2006 at 4:46 pmSince U.S. citizens are pretty much free to move wherever they choose, I’m not sure how you can legally do anything about the “quality” of the citizens who choose to move into Douglas County. Your use of the term “thugged out” and comparison to the “streets of downtown Atlanta” almost certainly means that you’re concerned with the very high growth of the African American population.
With that being the case your only reasonable choice is to move. That way you’d be doing both the new locals and yourself a big favor.
December 28th, 2006 at 11:00 pmThe problem is apartments. Too many apartments.
And YES, when speaking of areas like the apartments on hospital drive next to AutoZone, “thugged out” does describe the area which does happen to have a high concentration of blacks (I doubt any of them were born in Africa) and it IS a high crime area. If you have a problem with facts being pointed out, too bad.
December 31st, 2006 at 1:03 pmHigh crime area!!!! I don’t think anyone has been murdered there within the past 5 years. I mean we are not talking about the Bankhead area or anything. It is just DOUGLASVILLE. You all need to drop the stereotypes and realize that crime is EVERYWHERE in this world. I don’t care if you live in “peaceful-like” Cumming, Georgia or an “urban-hellhole-like” East Point, Georgia. Crime is everywhere, and will continue to thrive as long population grows and the economy is present (rich or poor).
January 5th, 2007 at 11:05 pmActually, I believe a 70+ year old woman was murdered in that apartment complex/development near autozone on hospital drive around two months ago. Douglas County’s only hope to improve the dilapidated community situation is to improve the existing older neighborhoods and convince new comers to move in and rejuvenate the housing, rather than to buy them and turn them into rental properties. Historically, gays and lesbians have prooved to be a group of individuals willing to move into run down areas and improving the quality of life for those around. Look at Grant Park, Midtown, etc for examples. Douglas County should make a drastic step and set out to be a gay friendly area, as we are located very close to the City of Atlanta. This would bring an influx of money and rising property value sure to boost the “quality of citizens” to that one of the posters was referring. Just an idea.
January 7th, 2007 at 4:47 pmTrue, but challenging idea, normally the idea to attract homsoexuals, and accept them as a customer base is almost considered taboo outside of the Atlanta city limits. The conservative population already has a low tolerance to bring in foreigners, and exploit them. I mean why do you think hispanic-owned business are confined high-density style to Buford Highway in DeKalb/Gwinnett Counties. And besides that more gays and lesbian will NOT cut away the crime in certain areas. Only more $$$$$$, and a wealthy developer would. Like there was an attempt to bring single family housing along Fairburn Road near the dilapidated Roller-Skating Rink and Bowling Alley, and it got shot down quick- simply because Douglas County, Georgians are STILL afraid of change and prosperity and is reluctant to grow and attract better businesses, as seen in Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:08 amyes, this county IS getting THUGGED OUT and has been for a while. Douglasville has turned out to be a predominately black area, therefore, the little gang-bangers think they own everything now and can talk to teachers, police, and other adults the way they please. I have no problem with people of different ethnic groups moving into this community, but for God’s sake, have a bit of respect for those of us who have thrived here for a while. PLEASE! Hopefully, some day, we can all get along.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:59 pmIt seems like to me by your definition, ALL of Georgia is getting is Thugged. According to the latest Census estimates, Douglas County is 18% black, Douglasville is 30% black and the state of Georgia is 30% black. So, face it, as long as Jim Crow laws are extinct in the state of Georgia, black folks (and Hispanics) will continue to linger, Good and Bad!!!! And there is no escape, unless you want to leave.
I don’t care where you go, there is ALWAYS going to be trouble, with blacks, whites and/or hispanics, as long as “hip-hop” remains to be the selected trend, and the laws remain unchanged from what they are today, that permit this type of foolish behavior coming from our youth. So, PLEASE, do not put Douglas County on the spot - especially with racism affecting the quality of life here.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:21 pmWHAT? A big part of the problem with this county now is the urbanization and parents not knowing how to reaise their child to show respect. And where did you get the ‘latest” census info? from 2000? A lot can change in 6 1/2 years. Just drive up the road. Integration is not the issue……….Its the “hip-hop,” like you said.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:50 pmWow. I’m the “Anonymous” who posted the first response back on December 28th. I look back two weeks later and the response has been unbelievable! Good to see more locals chiming in on this issue.
Regarding the original issue (Mounting stress on the school system) there is no single factor here. I do think that three big contributors are fear (on the part of the long-time locals), lack of accountability (on the part of the kids/teens who are causing problems in the schools), and lack of parental responsibility.
Fear. Demographics have shifted rapidly in the county as a whole. I have no demographic data (or “facts”), but if you look around you can obviously see that the African American population as a whole has grown tremendously. Culturally the new population differs greatly from the old - from observation, they *appear* to be more of an urban lifestyle-embracing hip-hop/oversize garment/long t-shirt dressing type group. This is in huge contrast to what was very recently a largely white, rural, slow-paced county whose neighbors all knew one another and for the most part got along well. Black kids walk the streets more in groups (often mis-labeled as gangs) and tend to be more outwardly social. This is bothersome for many long-time locals, as they’ve typically associated this type of activity and appearance with crime, deviancy, and low interest in education. Sometimes its true, sometimes not.
When people are observing the actions individuals of a different race, it only takes the activity of a few bad apples to “spoil the bunch” and get the entire group labelled in a negative way. Because of fear and ignorance, the initiative is usually not taken to get to know the kids individually. This cannot be stopped.
Lack of Accountability. This can also be tied to lack of parental responsibility. There really is no separation between the two. This probably applies to a lot of the long-time locals, but I’ve observed it myself within my own neighborhood amongst the growing African American population. Parents just let their kids walk up and down the streets in large groups (kids as young as 5 or 6 years old “hanging out”), even on weekdays after school! Where are the parents and what are they doing? What kind of grades are their kids getting? Why don’t they have daily responsibilities at home? There’s always something constructive kids could be doing.
The problem here is absolute lack of responsibility on the parents’ part. In other words, BAD parenting. From my observation it appears that a too many of the parents don’t have order in their homes, or don’t have their kids on a schedule of activities. In the middle grade years they should already be college focused, with daily activities/chores at home. Their peer groups should only be with kids who are family and goal-oriented, not those seeking social popularity wanting to “hang out” walking the streets. I’m not seeing too much of that on the north side of I-20 where I live, and that’s not good.
A lot of the African American parents I know appear to just be too busy, too lazy, or too selfish to care about the BEST for their kids. They’re sacrificing their kids future by overspending on housing that they really can’t afford. This is forcing them to have to take employment that keeps them away from home too long, and not be in the company of their kids. Between overextending themselves by buying in the most expensive neighborhoods on Chapel Hill road, having overpriced automobiles, buying clothes at the mall, and eating out, they don’t appear to have adequate time to properly raise their children.
MY BELIEF
As a resident of Douglas County for 9 years, I’ve had the chance to live in pre-Arbor Place Mall Douglasville and post-Arbor Place Mall Douglasville. Truly this county has shifted its demographics. When we first moved here back in 1998, my wife and I had difficulty finding other African American families to socialize with. Now that’s not the issue. The problem now is finding those who share our family values and career aspirations.
What I see happening is sort of a mid-scale “white flight” from Douglasville. If history holds true, schools north of I-20 will continue to get worse and property values have already reflected that. There is already a HUGE decline in the price of houses between I-20 and Bankhead (have you checked the number of homes for sale in “upscale” Rosewood and their selling prices?). I believe the once upscale leaning Rose Avenue corridor (where I currently live) will continue to experience deterioration in desirability and property values.
I also see a huge increase in the amount of building and the value of homes being built down Hwy 5. There appears to be a quiet effort to really upscale this portion of the county. Riverwood is finally being finished, and the new homes are very expensive. The second phase of Ansbury Park, just south of Riverwood, has homes that begin at over $100k more than the cheapest home in the first phase. Check out Glen Laurel on Big A road, or Hurricane Point on River Ferry road in South Douglas County. Looks like Southwest Douglas is the next hot area in the county.
Personally since I have two small kids, schools are most important to me. None of Douglas County schools are great, but according to test scores Holly Springs, Chapel Hill and Bill Arp appear to be the best performing elementary schools in the area. The others go from mixed to totally abysmal. South Douglas elementary isn’t anything impressive testwise, but is 90% white (which undoubtedly is aiding in the tremendous “high end” growth in the area).
As much as I love the area, we are preparing to move this year. Mainly to maximize our profits from home sale and to seek the best schools. We’ve narrowed our choices to East Cobb, Dunwoody and Alpharetta. Dunwoody is our preference, but in the best school districts even a run-down, unrenovated 60s ranch costs 300k. But we’re willing to scale down for our childrens’ education. If history holds true, as more blacks move in and more whites leave, housing prices will plummet. Eventually as parents both black and white who want the best education and social environment for their children leave, crime will increase. in 5-6 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if Douglas County is running neck-in-neck with Clayton County.
I hate to be pessimistic, but reality is more beneficial.
Take care.
January 10th, 2007 at 10:39 amAnonymous from January 10th, 2007, that was deep and scary. It makes me almost regret moving to Douglas County, in hopes of finding a cheaper, but newer house in the 120s, along Fairburn Road in order to compromise our housing preference, with our commuting distance between Downtown Atlanta and a place to stay. Fortunately for me, I work in Cobb County (where the average house is in the 200s), but on the other my wife works in Downtown Atlanta.
If Douglas ends up like Clayton, then I don’t know where else to go. Ironically, I think much of south Cobb, below State Route 120, thats Dallas Highway and Roswell Road, is like Clayton itself, and possibly even worse along Austell Road, along South Cobb Drive, along Six Flags Drive, in the city of Marietta (especially along Franklin Road, Powder Springs Road and Bells Ferry Road), and in the city of Smyrna- north of Concord and Spring Roads. However, living in Atlanta is becoming too expensive for me, even though it is “cheap” compared to other metros in the United States, like the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (my original hometown) and points northeastward (New York, Washington and Philadelphia), in Florida and along the West Coast, including Denver and Phoenix.
My career can only pay so much to the point where I can only afford to live in Douglas County and commute to Cobb (and the city of Atlanta) in a reasonable time frame. I don’t want to move to Villa Rica, Carrollton or even extreme southwest Douglas County in hopes of approaching a better school district for less $$$$$$, then I will be forced to commute for even a longer time frame- losing time with the child in the process. I have no choice but to strategically stay where I am in Douglas County (though, we do need a bigger house due to space issues) and weather the storm as it comes, and if the schools continue to be awful in Douglas, then there is always the option of having my school attend private school instead.
I think Douglasville, for now is the best medium in metro Atlanta, because it still has a good suburban presence, neighborhood-wise and education-wise, as in being better than the other marginal outer-ring metro counties, also close to Atlanta (Clayton, Henry, Coweta and Rockdale).
Alot of people are also moving to Paulding County, but I think that place is overrated for lack of an interstate highway connection, plus State Route 6 (Thornton Road/Jimmy Lee Smith/Wendy Bagwell Highway) is a COMPLETE MESS, and the traffic there will take minutes off your life span. The irony. We looked at a house in Paulding, but SR6 scared us away from them, and we liked Douglas instead - it was a compromise: housing, education and commuting-wise.
January 10th, 2007 at 4:26 pmI am surprised by the amount of comments for this particular topic, yet I was afraid of banning anymore comments on the basis of some content. So as long everyone can keep their cool and talk about the issue as adults, then please keep commenting.
Yes, the school system in the county is not the best, I will contest that I am a product of the system and reserve my own opinions. There are a multitude of faults for the reason with the school system is in its current state. I’m trying to acquire more information about a story that I’m working on, which will hopefully further educate everyone.
Thanks for all the comments and great discussion.
BTW - A new forum is on the way to better discuss issues.
January 10th, 2007 at 5:01 pmYou make some excellent points. Let me make one addition to my post above the last one. By the way, I’ve decided to rename myself “Anonymous (LFE)” to distinguish myself among the “Anonymouses”, moving forward. My previous posts are the ones posted Dec 28th, 2006 at 11:00 pm and Jan 10th, 2007 at 10:39 am. This is my third post on the subject matter.
Overall Douglas County doesn’t have a terrible school system. There are just pockets of bad schools (that, unsurprisingly, appear in the pockets of bad neighborhoods/areas). Most schools are, for Georgia, average to good. Chapel Hills, Holly Springs and Bill Arp are about as good as it gets for elementary schools in this area. Dorsett Shoals Elementary also gets good reviews from parents on GreatSchools.net. Fortunately there are quite a few educational options here. You have several private schools (all Christian) - The Kings Way, Colonial Hills, Heirway Christian, Harvester Presbyterian, and a couple others). There’s also a newly established charter school (Brighten Academy) open to all residents.
Carroll County schools are not that great. None of them. You have non-suburban, rural people will a small-town 1960s mindset. Needless to say they are not education oriented. How do I know? I lived there for 7 years before moving to Douglasville. I found many of the locals very condenscending towards people of color.
Because of the rapid change in demograpics, and the likelihood of white flight through fear and discomfort, I feel that the future vitality of the city (probably even in the county) rests in the hands of the growing African American population, and whether or not they place a great emphasis on education and personal responsibility. If those become the most important priorities of a majority of the citizens, the issues such as crime will be dealt with justly. And the city will enjoy GOOD growth and increased property values and desirability, regardless of the racial makeup.
There is nothing exceptional about South Douglas Elementary - it does OK. The test score data shows inconsistent (but good) performance since 2003. The 3 parent reviews on GreatSchools.net are from parents who love the school. The problem is the middle school that South Douglas feeds into (FairPlay). School test scores are mixed, but generally better than state average. That says nothing given the low bar the state has set. The problem in this school appears to be social, not really academic. Unfortunately ALL of western (including Mirror Lake) and southern Douglas County feeds into this school, which has led to serious overcrowding and (undoubtedly) increased tensions. There are several trailers on the grounds and I’ve heard of no plans to build a new school. But it needs to happen soon.
The white flight thing will happen - look at some of the posts here, people freaking out over the growing number of “thugged out” appearing adolescents in the county. Never mind they can’t tie a single one of these kids to one crime. But at least you get the existing mindset.
If you had elementary school aged kids, Chapel Hills (as crowded as it is) is a great choice. And there is housing in that district in your price range. Holly Springs Elementary appears to have the best performing African American elementary students in the county by far, but housing prices in that district tend to be STEEP. It remains one of the few reasons I may stay in the county.
January 10th, 2007 at 5:08 pmYou’ve brought up some very good points Anonymous, from Jan. 1o. I know a few cops in the area and a couple have told me that they get called every day (mainly north of the railroad tracks) because a parent has basically given up on their child (sometimes as young as 5) and wants the police to come out and raise them. Isn’t that something? And these kids are ones that are problems in school and who go out and steal.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:26 pmI’ve gone back and forth with myself about responding to this post but here it goes. My family has only lived in Douglasville for 6 years and my husband and I have also noticed the changing demographics. When we first moved out here, my son’s elementary school was about 75% white (we are black.) He’s now in middle school but my daughter attends that same elementary school and it is probably about 75% black now. I believe that some of that has to do with the new Bill Arp opening but things are certainly changing.
Some of you might not be aware of “black flight.” There are many black people who are concerned about education, crime, property values, and the like. My own neighborhood has changed drastically as for rent signs have cropped up like wildfires. We will be moving in the next year or so because I don’t want my property devalued by fake thugs and children basically raising themselves.
Like any decent parents, we want the best for our children. We thought that moving to Douglasville would provide us the small town atmosphere along with the safety of being miles away from Atlanta and public transportation. Sadly, it seems that more and more unsavory characters are now calling Douglasville home. What do you do? What can you do? As someone mentioned earlier, this is a free country and you can’t tell anyone where to live.
All you can do is to try and stay away from them. For exaple, we no longer go to the mall on Saturdays because there are certain parts of society that I don’t want my children seeing.
IF we stay in Douglasville, we’d have to move farther down HWY 5 towards 166 or in the Holly Springs area. I am an educator and the quality of our schools scare me. Great teachers don’t matter if the parents are there every step of the way making sure that the learning is being enforced at home. The county as a whole needs to get its curriculum updated and add things like I Cue that allows parents to see grades as they are input into the system.
January 13th, 2007 at 6:34 pmPoelover,
With education being one of your top priorities, in my opinion (if you can afford it) your best bet would be to move to a proven, stable school district where test scores have been solid for years. An example would be Mount Bethel Elementary and Dickerson Middle in East Cobb. Timber Ridge Elementary also scores well. And these districts in East Cobb have affordable housing. I realize that “affordable” is a relative term, but I generally take it to mean under 200k.
Alpharetta appears to have excellent schools, according to the scores and reviews at GreatSchools.net. The once great Roswell school district appears to have gone down the tubes.
My wife and I have spent the better part of the evening discussing school districts, neighborhood changes and what we want to do between now and August (when our oldest starts kindergarten. All options are still on the table.
If you plan to leave Douglasville, or just move out to upscale developing southwest Douglas then this may be the time to move on, as housing prices have really gotten stagnant in the closer-in areas over the last 6 to 12 months. Could be a sign of the real estate market correction or just a sign of things locally.
January 13th, 2007 at 10:56 pmPoelover, I’ve lived here all of my life and have fortunately had a chance (in the early part of my life) to enjoy the small town atmosphere and going out, not having to worry about being harassed in public or robbed. I’m sorry that ya’ll are having to move to get away from all of the newer day problems of out society. And its not only black thugs who cause the problems. A couple of months ago, I was pumping gas at quick trip and saw a huge fight involving mostly white teenage/early 20 year old boys and thought to myself that I’m glad I wasn’t up there eating with my family. Fortunately, police showed up and took control of the situation. But I know exactly what you’re talking about as far as the mall goes. Thanks a lot city council.
January 14th, 2007 at 1:22 amWhat is the point of moving to “Timbuktu” if putting your children in a “better” school means having to commute 90 minutes, between work and home. You will end up spending less time with the children, and more time on the road, and at home. Remember, school should not completely replace parents as the babysitter. Places like Alpharetta and Southwest Douglas are very remote from downtown/midtown Atlanta, and should take heed to caution if you plan to be further absent from raising your children, in pursuit of a safer neighborhood and better schools.
Either you can sacrifice your garage and yard, for an affordable Atlanta condo, or deal with the unpredictable elements that thrive in South Cobb, Lithia Springs and greater Douglasville, rather than to be broke (and invisible to your children) while barely residing in East Cobb, Alpharetta or Southwest Douglas County, paying over-$200K for a house and having to deal with a 90-minute commute each way- in pursuit of the ultimate “American Dream”.
January 14th, 2007 at 2:19 pmWe are looking to move from Texas to Georgia. It appears from the research we have conducted that Douglasville is growing something similiar to a town here in Texas called Frisco. Are most people just afraid of the growth because they have been there for years or is that they are afraid that the City Council is not preparing for the growth or that diversity is an issue within the community? The issues for y’all are all over the place, it’s actually quite sad.
Growth happens and with that comes diversity. Every race has their own “thugs” where do you think the terms white trash or redneck came from? It’s not just the black community (BTW, I am white middle -upper class) Everyone, not just Georgia or Douglasville, is facing the challenge of a public school system. Fortunately, my husband and I grew up in an upper class community that had a good public school system in place, but they also faced challenges.
For information on schools, we looked on the following website with the most current information for schools. It appears that South Douglas Elementary actually has the highest standardized test scores of all the elementary schools in Douglasville.
http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/location/q/stid=11/llid=118/stllid=209/locid=941469/catid=-1/secid=-1/compid=-1/site=pes
Also, your private schools are always an option. There appears to be multiple ones in the Douglasville area and the research I conducted they are VERY resonably priced compared to Dallas, Texas.
I look forward to moving into your beautiful community. After reading and viewing all the information on this website (somehas been very helpful) I sure hope we would be welcome with open arms, y’all have me concerned that the “middle-upper class newbys” are considered outcasts and I sure hope the Southern hospitality still reigns in Georgia like it does here in Texas.
January 14th, 2007 at 6:34 pmHere are Douglas County’s ranked elementary schools (from 2005), based on schoolmatters.com - Reading and Math Proficiency percentage:
1. South Douglas (95.4%)
January 15th, 2007 at 1:12 am2. Winston (95.4%)
3. Holly Springs (94.4%)
4. Bill Arp (93.8%)
5. Mount Carmel (92.2%)
6. Chapel Hill (91.7%)
7. Arbor Station (91.4%)
8. Dorsett Shoals (89.8%)
9. New Manchester (87.2%)
10. Mirror Lake (86.7%)
11. Beulah (85.7%)
12. Sweetwater (85.4%)
13. Bright Star (84.8%)
14. Eastside (84.1%)
15. Factory Shoals (83.9%)
16. North Douglas (83.4%)
17. Annette Winn (82.8%)
18. Lithia Springs (81.9%)
19. Burnett (78.7%)
Kelly,
I actually do love it here in Douglasville. As you mentioned, with growth comes change. It’s just that sometimes the changes are not quite what you expected. I’d only consider moving to a couple of other counties in Georgia. I think it’s a great place to raise kids. We see the same people at softball, baseball, gymnastics, dance, etc. It’s a very family oriented community. That is one of the reasons that we want to stay. I have always supplemented what my kids learn in school and I will continue to do so.
I agree that all races have those that are considered undesirable. Thugs, rednecks, ghetto, white trash…I’m sure there are others that I have not listed. I’d like to live in a place where none of those people exist. Wouldn’t it be nice if we all cared about the things we should? Since there is no utopia, we have to make the best of what we have.
January 15th, 2007 at 11:07 amResponse to Anonymous Georgian,
Moving to a better school district does not necessarily mean giving up commute time or your yard space. In fact, in my line of work, moving to the better districts would (in most cases) shorten my commute significantly.
It’s all a matter of priorities, and what’s most important. Besides location, school performance is one of the most important factors affecting property values. And WHO wants to live where property values are diminishing due to increased crime, worsening school social conditions and decreasing school test scores.
January 15th, 2007 at 8:10 pmI have recently moved away after 6 years in Douglasville, but it had nothing to do with school performance. My commute to Atlanta had become an exercise in torture. I had a child in the Holly Springs district for three years and I was generally pleased with the performance of the teachers and the school. I welcomed the increasing diversity of the neighborhood and I wanted my kid to be exposed to different ethnic groups at school.
However, the comments on this thread could have been transcriptions of the conversations that took place in the higher priced neighborhood along W Chapel Hill. In many cases, even a modest reduction in housing prices could result in bankruptcy for those with 100% mortgages. This hypersensitivity to falling home prices and subtle racism caused some families to put their house on the market. Sadly, it does not look like much has changed since I left about a year ago.
In many respects, Douglasville was a great place to live and our school could certainly be counted among the pluses. If Douglas county schools could be brought to Holly Springs’ level and something could be done about the growing traffic disaster, I would still consider Douglasville a great place to raise a family.
January 15th, 2007 at 11:17 pmSince when is people getting together on a forum and commenting how bad our town has gotten ruined by thugs racist? Nobody said on here that ANY certain ethnic group has had a negative impact on our county, just that “thugs”, as well as the “white trash.” So, if you feel that some people on here are racist, We’re sorry that you have that misconception, were just stating our points on why quality of life has decreased in our county.
January 16th, 2007 at 12:50 am@Anonymous3,
A misconception? Well, I have a dream…
You are deluding yourself if you think there are not deep racial currents to the private conversations among Douglasville neighborhoods regarding schools.
But don’t take my word for it, have a look at the racial diversity of the largest private schools in Douglas county (esp Harvester, the largest):
Montessori School of Douglas Cty Students by Race
Number of Students Percentage
American Indiana/Alaskan0 0%
Asian/Pacific Islander 2 5%
Hispanic 7 17.5%
Black (Non-Hispanic) 5 12.5%
White (Non-Hispanic) 26 65%
Heirway Christian Academy Students by Race
Number of Students Percentage
American Indiana/Alaskan0 0%
Asian/Pacific Islander 2 1.29%
Hispanic 4 2.59%
Black (Non-Hispanic) 11 7.14%
White (Non-Hispanic) 137 88.96%
Harvester Christian Academy Students by Race
Number of Students Percentage
American Indiana/Alaskan 0%
Asian/Pacific Islander 3 1.16%
Hispanic 2 0.77%
Black (Non-Hispanic) 8 3.1%
White (Non-Hispanic) 245 94.96%
I still like Douglasville and wish it the best, but Douglasville has the politics and politicians it deservers.
January 16th, 2007 at 12:26 pmIn response to Anonymous (LFE),
If you end up “broke” or having to work two jobs, just so you can afford a bourgeosie house, so that your kids can go to a bourgeosie school, where does that leave you? You won’t have to worry about the traffic, because you’ll be spending too much time at work trying to make ends meet, so you can (forever) pay down the $300K-plus mortgage.
And what about the children, You will never have time for them, because you chose to be busy, so they can live in a good neighborhood and go to a good school. Next thing you’ll know they will be looking for positive (or negative) daylight-afterschool alternatives, due your continued weekday absence from their lives. Unless you are fortunate enough to be that wealthy, and is able to be “super-parent”.
And if you are…..then more power to you, and you just happend to be one of the lucky few. I don’t think that our so so-called safe neighborhoods, and our children’s education is really worth getting “house-poor” over. The reason why kids are acting so delinquent these days is not because of the rotten schools, and or neighborhoods. It is because of the lack of time that we get to spend with them. Without attention to our children, kids will easily get sucked into the negative element that continously plagues our youth, such as shoplifting, burglary, auto-theft, drugs, violence, etc…
Chasing after what’s “best” is the most common habit Metro-Atlantans are suckered into each day when it comes to buying a house, especially with those nasty adjustable-rate or interest-only mortgages. It is nothing more than a double-cross to easily force you into foreclosure.
Crime, chaos, imperfection and urban blight is everywhere. Not all schools are safe, not all schools are perfect. Who cares about the SAT/ACT scores or even the Reading and Math Proficiency percentages altogether. Chances are, you still may live next to a rotten neighbor (that you can’t stand), the convenience store/Waffle House down the street may get robbed, and/or your child may still get bullied by some schoolyard clique- for being different (Heard about the recent Campbell High School stabbing in “wealthy” Cobb County). The whole world is ghetto, so what is the point of running from it??????
The best thing I would do is find a medium- not too rough, not too far, and not too expensive. And that is WHY I chose Douglas County to live in, because all mediums are satisfied. I could have chose the urban hell of South Cobb (and heavily invest in a sidearm or security system for protection), I could have chose bourgeosie Smyrna or Vinings (and end up having to work a second job), or I could have chose Villa Rica (and end up miserably spending 180 minutes a day stuck in traffic) - But NO, I chose our cosy, mediocre community right here in Douglas County, off of I-20 east of Arbor Place Mall and west of Lithia Springs (30122-zip code), in order to compromise my means- not to overspend or underspend.
January 16th, 2007 at 4:04 pmI appreciate that, Recently Departed, but showing statistics has no bearing on whether or not people in our community are “racist,” but theres better things on here to talk about than racism. Its not the 1960’s anymore. Grow up.
January 19th, 2007 at 7:20 amAnonymous Georgian,
I’m sensing deep rooted hostility and perhaps a bit of envy. It’s really just a matter of choice. In fact, it’s ALL about choice.
Fortunately I’m blessed to the point of where I don’t have to make the choice between making a great living and having my pick of where I want my family to live and my kids to attend school. I drive in to the city 4 days for 8 hours and telecommute/telework every Wednesday. I’m home before dark each night and am there 7 nights a week.
Campbell High school is hardly a model school, even by Clayton County standards. Many of the criminal activities you mentioned have happened in this county several times in the 9 years I’ve lived here.
I just thank God that I’m in a position where I can provide my kids the best choices in education and living. There’s no “luck”, just careful planning, setting goals, spending many hours doing research achieving certifications, continuing education, giving to charity, and most importantly - PRAYER. You can continue acting envious and arguing hypotheticals - it won’t change a thing. In 5 years we’ll both see who was right.
January 20th, 2007 at 1:52 amLFE,
Ironically, I guess greed, for a lack of a better word, is good!!! Praying for the almighty dollar can go a LONG way. Good luck to you, when you finally move out of Douglas County. Thank you for selling us (including our schoolchildren) out.
January 21st, 2007 at 6:33 pmHey Y’all!
Thought I would add that it may be a good idea to look at this website comparing two cities. Crime rate, education, average home price etc….Please feel free to type in the zip codes to compare. It is very helpful. You will see Douglasville has a low crime rate compared to some cities in Georgia.
http://www.moving.com/Find_A_Place/Compare2Cities/results.asp?Zip1=30135&Zip2=75093
Kelley
January 21st, 2007 at 8:10 pmIRONICALLY YOU ALL HAVE A MISCONCEPTION OF WHAT BAD SCHOOL STANDARDS
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:41 pmARE MY CHILD ATTENDED VILLA RICA HIGH UNTILL YESTERSDAY , WE MOVED HERE LAST YEAR FROM GWINNETT COUNTY IN THE VERY BEST SCHOOLS (PARKVIEW)IN HOPES OF STARTING A GOOD LIFE IN A SMALL TOWN VILLA RICA AND GETTING A GOOD EDUCATION AND ENJOYING LIFE . A YEAR LATER AND LOTS OF PROBLEMS WITH THE SCHOOL ( VILLA RICA HIGH ) THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO DESIRE TO HELP THESE CHILDREN GROW IN A MANNER THAT THEY WILL SUCESS THRUOUT LIFE . IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT THEY WANT AND TO HELL WITH THE CHILDREN. THEY ARE WAY TO WORRIED ABOUT GETTING THESE CHILDREN OUT OF THE SCHOOL AND SENDING THEM TO CROSSROADS INSTEAD OF HELPING THEM UNDERSTAND THE REAL WAY OF LIFE.. THEY ALLOW CHILDREN TO ATTEND SCHOOL 9 MONTHS PREGENT BUT IF YOU WEAR JEANS WITH A HOLE IN THEM YOU ARE KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL . WHERE ARE THERE VALUES , AS EDUCATORS I KNOW OF 3 CHILDREN ( ID LIKE TO ADD ALL GIRLS THAT ATTENEND VILLA RICA UNTILL YESTERDAY AND NON OF THEM HAVE EVER BEEN IN TROUBLE UNTILL YESTERSDAY OTHER THEN A CELL PHONE INCIDENT . THESE 3 CHILDREN GOT KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL. OF THE 3 ( 2 ) OF THESE CHILDREN AGE 16 WILL GET NO FUTHER EDUCATION THANKS TO THOSE FINE PEOPLE THAT CALL THEMSELF EDUCATORS IN VILLA RICA HIGH .. ( WERE TALKING BOTH WHITE AND BLACK ) ID LOVE TO BE IN THERE POSTION FOR JUST ONE DAY AND HAVE THE LIFE OF THERE CHILDREN IN MY HANDS… ITS NOT ALL ALL ABOUT WHITE OR BLACK RICH OR POOR ITS ABOUT VALUES !!!!! LUCKY ONE OF THESE CHILDREN HAPPEN TO BE MINE AND WE CAN AFFORD TO ENROLL HER IN A CHRISTIAN SCHOOL , WE AS PARENTS NEED TO BE MORE INVOLVED IN SELECTING THE TEACHERS ETC. THAT HAPPEN TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH OUR CHILDREN THEN WE DO … THEN WE HAVE A 1ST GRADE TEACHER IN CARRROLL COUNTY THAT WAS JUST CHARGED WITH LEAVING DRUGS FOR A INMATE CAN YOU IMAGE WAHT SHE WAS TEACHING OUR CHILDREN AT SCHOOL. THESE PEOPLE THAT WERE ALLOWING IN OUR SCHOOLS ARE NOT CONCERENED ABOUT THE EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN THERE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT CHECK THERE GOING TO GET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH. THE ISSUE HAS NOTING TO DO WITH COLOR .. WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE AND THE THUGS IF THE POLICE CANT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM THEN WERE NEED OTHER POLICE OFFICERS THAT WILL TAKE THERE JOBS SERIOUS AND YES I UNDERSTAND THEY DONT MAKE ALOT OF MONEY BUT THERES THE ONES THAT CHOOSE TO DO THAT FOR A LIVING .. TRY LIVING IN VILLA RICA FOR JUST ONE WEEK WITH CHILFREN AND IM CERTAIN YOU WILL APPRECIATE DOUGLASVILLE ALOT MORE THEN YOU DO NOW……….
please swap lifes with someone in villa rica just for a week and you will appreciate your life in douglasville. the schools in carroll county are awful is a nice way to put it ( villa rica high ) the people here have no concern about anyone other then there self. there rude , nasty, they steal , lie , cheat and think this is a normal way of life.. and the bus drivers here are amoung the ones that start gossip and get trouble going amoun the students . you would think an adult would have more common sence huh ? but they dont …. and the teachers here im not sure what rock they dug them out from under but lord they need to allow them to go back where they came from there form of punishment is to kick the children out of school !!!! its amazing just try living here a week and you will run back to the thugs
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:49 pmwheather they be black or white . if you want to see white trash then come on down to villa rica ….
Wow!!! Some of y’all seriously need to get a life! LOL! Do you not realize that problems are everywhere?
Obviously, “concerned in Villa Rica” You clearly do not have an education with all the mistyped words, grammatical errors and the poor proper etiquette of computer use (do you realize using all caps is considered shouting to people??) LOL you must have been a product of a great school system up in Gwinett County. You are FOOLING yourself if you think that kids aren’t having sex (no matter how rich or poor you are or what school you attend) Your comment about “allowing girls to attend schools 9 months pregnant” is horrific!! What happened to the boy who got her pregnant? It’s okay for him to walk around school and look cool to the other boys? They both need to be treated fairly. Wouldn’t you want them to continue their education, so the “system” isn’t paying for it down the road? I am not saying it’s right to have sex before marriage, but be realistic and stop spreading your 1800’s morals on everyone else in this community.
I grew up in a very exclusive rich county with excellent schools and I can promise you the same problems that the “lower class community” have are similar just that the kids have more money to spend in the richer communities. In fact, my fiends that attended some of the most exclusive private catholic schools (Ursuline Academy) were having more sex and unprotected because they were afraid to ask for help.
I am not saying that any of the issues are wrong or right, but do the research, educate yourself and be a little more accepting, before speaking. I agree the Carroll school system is very poor, but you chose to live there. Check out the websites that were posted earlier so you can compare cities. Unfortunately, you cannot compare values and morals, that is left up to the parents to teach and each person has a different standard even the most religious.
Oh by the way, before you say I am a liberal democrat, I am actually a registered Republican and was never pregnant in High school or college. Though it “could have been me” or any of my friends because the only difference is that I never got pregnant in High school or college…. how many of you had sex before you got married? I would say the average is pretty high…
February 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 pmComments are now closed. If you want to discuss this issue, please do it in the forums.
February 5th, 2007 at 1:29 pm