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An issue SourceLine follows · southwest DeKalb High School and the neighborhoods around it

Proposed care homes next to Southwest DeKalb High School

Proposed care homes next to Southwest DeKalb High School

On October 29, 2026, Claratel Behavioral Health ended its plan for care homes at 3053 Wesley Chapel Road, next to Southwest DeKalb High School, for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In a statement that morning, Claratel said all construction has stopped, cancelled that evening's community meeting at the school, and said its contractors are securing the site and adding erosion control.

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Parents, alumni and homeowners learned of the plan earlier in October. Commissioner LaDena Bolton of Super District 7 wrote that residents asked how it advanced without the usual zoning process or public notice. Claratel says it is an instrumentality of the State, exempt from county zoning, so the project never went before the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners.

Still open: what happens to the land Claratel bought, what was spent before the project ended, and whether a state agency can place homes like these anywhere in DeKalb without a county vote or public notice. Each answer will be posted here with its source.

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7members of DeKalb County Board of Commissioners decide thisWho decides
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CountyDeKalb County Board of Commissioners

Who decides this

  • Robert PatrickDistrict 1Not decided yetCallEmail
  • Michelle Long SpearsDistrict 2Not decided yetCallEmail
  • Nicole MassiahDistrict 3Not decided yetEmail
  • Chakira JohnsonDistrict 4Not decided yetCallEmail
  • Mereda Davis JohnsonDistrict 5Not decided yetCallEmail
  • Ted TerrySuper District 6Not decided yetCallEmail
  • LaDena BoltonSuper District 7Not decided yetEmail

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Every figure on this page shows the year it describes. Public agencies release their numbers on their own schedules, often a year or more after the work of counting is done. The Census Bureau, for example, publishes its five year community survey each December, and the national reading test is given every two years. That is why some figures are not from this year. SourceLine updates each one as soon as the agency publishes it.

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