At last week’s Cobb Board of Education presentation on long-term enrollment projections, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s comments on apartments and transience got most of the attention.
But the demographic forecast by Education Planners, a private company that provides the Cobb County School District with detailed metrics, continues a pattern in regards to enrollment at East Cobb schools.
There’s been little to no growth for several years, and what has increased is very slight. According to school-by-school forecasts (see tables below), most public schools in the East Cobb area will be at or under capacity between now and 2033.
And overall projections for the district are expected to remain steady during that period, from 105,738 currently, to 106,013 in 2028 and 105,932 by 2033.
“We are growing, but we are growing in pockets,” James Wilson, Education Planners president, told the Cobb school board.
Most of the overcrowding and enrollment growth continues in the Cumberland-Smyrna area, where a new middle school—Betty Gray Middle School—opened in recent years.
In addition, capacity has increased at Campbell High School, which has the largest enrollment in the district with around 3,000 students.
And while Osborne High School got a new campus in 2020 built for 2,300 students, it’s still well over capacity, to nearly 2,800 students.
The demographics at schools in East Cobb are different, including the two biggest high schools, Walton, which is just under capacity.
However, Wheeler High School and its feeder, East Cobb Middle School, are projected to remain above capacity over the next few years.
That’s the only attendance cluster in the East Cobb area that contains a significant number of apartment complexes.
Brumby Elementary School, also in the Wheeler cluster, is below capacity after being overcrowded in its former location on Powers Ferry Road.
East Side and Sope Creek elementary schools, both in the Walton cluster, are expected to remain close to their four-figure capacities, as are Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools (Walton) and Lassiter High School.
Education Planners takes data from the Atlanta Regional Commission, Cobb building permits, live birth numbers and other sources to project long-term enrollment to help Cobb school district officials plan for school construction needs.
A rebuild of the Sprayberry High School classroom building is underway and will be completed next year, and there are classroom additions at other schools in East Cobb.
Bells Ferry Elementary School also is getting a replacement facility that is slated to open in 2027.
Additional district-wide dem0graphic data from Wilson’s presentation is included the East Cobb enrollment projections. Click the middle button to view the slideshow.
Elementary Schools
[wptg_comparison_table id="61"]
Middle Schools
[wptg_comparison_table id=”62″]
High Schools
[wptg_comparison_table id=”63″]
Related:
- East Cobb students excel at Georgia Science Olympiad
- Sprayberry graduates urged to pursue passions ‘head-first’
- Editor’s Note: Apartments and the future of Cobb schools
- Cobb school board adopts $1.8B FY 2026 budget
- New principals named at Srayberry, Wheeler for 2025-26
- Mt. Bethel Christian Academy names new lower school head
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“There’s been little to no growth for several years, and what has increased is very slight. According to school-by-school forecasts (see tables below), most public schools in the East Cobb area will be at or under capacity between now and 2033.”
This is somewhat misleading. All the district enrollment numbers for the past 20 years are available here:
https://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form
Not only has there been no growth in Cobb County School District Enrollment since 2015, we’ve actually gone down around 5%.
The consultants that that CCSD hired to make projections apparently don’t verify their past projections. I remember that before COVID, they projected growth that never happened. I am not sure this is a wise expenditure of public funds. If they cannot accurately model the future, they aren’t adding value.
Adding apartments won’t necessarily increase students, either. That’s because a lot of them are near the Battery and attract younger professionals who aren’t interested in having children.
Cobb County needs to plan for de-growth in students and stop paying overpriced consultants to tell them stories when the state of GA has actual data available that contradicts the story.