Superintendent Mike Looney told the Fulton County Board of Education on Thursday, Aug. 20, that the district is evaluating underutilized buildings in the planning zone that includes Roswell-area schools, a move that could reshape how the district uses its facilities as enrollment continues to decline.
Looney said the administration is looking at buildings in Region C, the planning area north of the Chattahoochee River, and Region A, south of Atlanta. He told the board he plans to seek permission to engage community stakeholders in discussions about potential future uses and partnerships for those facilities.
No specific buildings were named at the meeting.
The announcement comes as Fulton County Schools navigates a projected $90 million budget shortfall through its G.L.I.D.E. initiative, a cost-cutting and revenue strategy launched in July 2025. As we reported Aug. 22, the board tentatively approved an 18.08-mill tax rate at the same meeting, the district's first increase in seven years.
Enrollment declines add urgency. District-wide enrollment stood at 85,475 students as of March 2026, about 1,579 fewer than the prior year, according to a board bulletin from that month. Locally, Roswell High School enrolled 1,999 students in 2024-25, down 1.2%, while Centennial High School dropped 6.3% to 1,589 students, according to North Fulton Today.
A call for election filed with Fulton County already lists a replacement elementary school in Region C as a capital project on the Nov. 3 ESPLOST ballot.
"Over the course of this last year, we did some austerity cuts … We implemented a project called GLIDE to gradually, purposefully, and systematically begin reducing expenses," Looney said on Aug. 13, when he first announced his millage rate recommendation.
New AI policy adopted
The board also approved Policy IFBI, a formal policy governing artificial intelligence use across the district. According to the board bulletin, the policy sets expectations for using district-approved AI tools in teaching, learning and operations while requiring human oversight of all AI-assisted decisions. It prohibits harmful uses of AI and makes staff responsible for any work AI supports.
The board approved Lauren Malekebu as executive director of operational planning at the same meeting.
What's next
Looney said he will seek board permission before launching community engagement sessions on the facilities' future. Residents in Region C will also vote Nov. 3 on the ESPLOST referendum that includes the replacement elementary school.
