Original Research by School Decision on East Dekalb Special Education Center
East DeKalb Special Education Center is a public special education school serving preschool through twelfth grade in Stone Mountain, a small DeKalb County city near Atlanta. The school is the specialized arm of the DeKalb County School District for students with disabilities and serves a student body that is majority Black and majority low-income, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.
The enrollment is small, with the vast majority of students concentrated in preschool. The school has only a handful of students in middle and high school grades. This grade structure reflects the nature of the facility: it is designed to meet the complex and varied needs of students with disabilities, which often means that students progress through at a different pace or follow alternative educational pathways than students in traditional schools. Testing data from the school are sparse or suppressed because the enrollment in tested grades is extremely limited, making proficiency rates unreliable to report. State testing data was not available for recent years, and the few test-takers appear in individual grades with too few numbers for meaningful public reporting. A parent may want to contact the school directly to understand what assessment and progress-monitoring methods the staff use to track student growth.
Stone Mountain itself is a diverse small city with a revitalized historic downtown centered on Main Street, where galleries, restaurants, and shops occupy early-1900s buildings. The broader Stone Mountain area is more conventionally suburban. Housing values have declined slightly year-over-year, and rents are stable. The area has seen significant new housing activity, including build-to-rent communities and renovated apartment complexes, some of which DeKalb County has acquired for transitional housing. The DeKalb County School District is headquartered nearby and employs many local residents; other major employers include manufacturing firms, hospitality tied to Stone Mountain Park, and logistics and retail operations.
The district itself is in flux. The Student Assignment Project, a multi-year redistricting and consolidation effort launched in 2024, could close or repurpose dozens of schools over the next several years to address significant excess capacity. A final recommendation is expected to the Board of Education in December 2026. Additionally, the district has begun rolling back its millage rate after years of keeping one of the highest school tax rates in Georgia, though rising property values mean actual tax bills have continued to climb. E-SPLOST VI, a one-cent sales tax approved by voters, is funding major capital projects including new schools and conversions of existing schools into specialized academies for performing arts, cyber technology, and career and technical education.
For families considering this school, the key questions center on whether the individualized instruction and specialized services it provides meet a student's particular learning or development needs. The small enrollment and grade-skew toward early childhood suggest the school is calibrated to that population. State assessment results are not available due to the small number of students tested. Families should ask the school about its curriculum, staff qualifications, related services such as speech and occupational therapy, transition planning for students aging toward adulthood, and how progress is measured beyond standardized tests. The broader context of district consolidation and facility changes should also inform long-term planning, as district-wide shifts could eventually affect this school's role or location within DeKalb.
See more original research from School Decision →