Apparently the Georgia House of Representatives thinks so.

In a 137 to 33 vote yesterday, the AJC reports that the House approved legislation that would give the governor power to remove local school board members, based on a recommendation by the State Board of Education.  The measure now goes back to the Senate for a vote.

According to the news org, the legislation is a reaction to Clayton County’s loss of accreditation last year.   And while I understand the state’s concern when a school system completely fails its students, this seems a bit drastic and big government-ish for Georgia’s Republican Party.

Why does it seem like the State’s (R)uling party keeps trying to take more and more power away from local governments?  What happened to the “local knows best” mentality?  Is that particular ideology up for grabs in political arenas again?

At next week’s Tuesday Board Meeting, the City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will vote to approve a plan (see Action Item B) to sell its kitchen cooking oil to Clean Energy Biofuel for 25 cents a gallon. A quick look at the company’s website shows that Leon’s Full Service and many other well known Atlanta businesses and restaurants are already Clean Energy clients.  Decatur High looks to be the first school on the list of clients.

As the summary below notes, this new agreement not only saves CSD money, it also supports a growing sector of the alternative energy industry.

Considering our economic climate it pays to be forward thinking. Currently, the used kitchen oil that our school produces is being taken away and disposed of by Griffin Oil at a charge. Clean Energy Biofuel, LLC is offering to pay CSD for our oil and recycle it. In addition, we would be supporting an environmentally and economically friendly fuel industry.

CEB (Clean Energy Biofuel) is all about biofuel. They collect, produce and distribute biodiesel. CEB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, which is a regional non-profit organization focused on environment and energy policy. CEB has operations in Atlanta and Knoxville, TN. They are eager to expand their operations by incorporating DHS.

CEB is offering to provide DHS with an oil storage container and make pickups on request. They also pay for the oil they collect by the gallon. CEB already collects from many businesses across Decatur and Atlanta. The used kitchen oil, once collected, is transported to their plant in Knoxville, TN where it is converted to biodiesel to ASTM specifications. The biodiesel is sold to fleets via wholesale distribution and to passenger cars via retail kiosks.

From CSD…

REMINDER: Board of Education Special Meeting Tonight (2/9)

Tonight, from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m., the City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will hold a special meeting to address community questions and concerns in an informal setting. Due to the time constraints associated with this meeting, the number of individuals that the Board will be able to address may be limited. The meeting will take place at the Central Office at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030).

Does it have to be called a “meeting”?  Thus far these meetings have run more like an open forums than a what I would think of as a  “meeting”.

Looks like last week’s CSD special, pre-meeting meeting wasn’t a one-time deal!

Blasted to the CSD mailing list this afternoon…

On February 9th from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m. the City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will hold a special meeting to address community questions and concerns in an informal setting. Due to the time constraints associated with this meeting, the number of individuals that the Board will be able to address may be limited. The meeting will take place at the Central Office at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030).

Just in from CSD.  Is this a newly scheduled meeting?

On January 12th from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m. the City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will hold a special meeting to address community questions and concerns in an informal setting. Due to the time constraints associated with this meeting, the number of individuals that the Board will be able to address may be limited. The meeting will take place at the Central Office at Westchester (758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur 30030).

At it’s most recent meeting, the Decatur School Board unanimously approved the extensive Farm-to-School action plan.  In an email to the community, CSD explains what committing to this plan will mean when you get down to brass tacks.

Initial plans for the Decatur Farm to School Program include:

• Edible school gardens, planted and maintained by students, teachers, parents, school staff and community members
• An increase in the number and types of fresh, local foods served in schools
• Integrated curriculum resources to leverage learning around nutrition, science, biology, math, social sciences, and local community resources
• Farm field trips and farm education that explore local economics, biological systems, local environmental issues and the holistic connection that links food, health, and the environment
• Hands on food preparation and taste-tests featuring fresh, local foods and local chefs

From the agenda for next week’s Board of Ed meeting (Item 4a)…

The Teachers of the Year for 2009-2010 are:

• Brooke Nation: Clairemont Elementary
• Susanna Shewan: College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center
• Beverly Beyer: Oakhurst Elementary
• Lynn Holden: Glennwood Academy
• Nancy Woodley: Winnona Park Elementary
• Patricia Solomon: Renfroe Middle School
• Teresa Cross: Decatur High School

The System-wide Teacher of the Year is chosen from amongst the school’s Teachers of the Year. The names are then given to the Superintendent who makes the selection of the System-wide Teacher of the Year. The System-wide Teacher of the Year will then go on to compete in the state competition.

According to the agenda, all “Teachers of the Year” receive a commemorative plaque, and the System-wide “Teacher of the Year” receives $1,000 to attend a professional conference.

Congrats to all the winners!

The City Schools of Decatur often prides itself on the many things that make it stand out from other Atlanta and Georgia school systems; charter status, teacher retention, a nationally renowned walk/bike-to-school program, just to name a few.

But there’s at least one unique characteristic that the school system wished it could shake – it’s quite possibly the only school system in the state of Georgia that doesn’t hold the title of it’s own buildings.

As Assistant Superintendent Thomas Van Soelen notes, “Although there may be others, we don’t know of any other Georgia school districts that do not own title to land. CSD built the buildings, maintains the property (inside and out), but cannot take advantage of opportunities that owning title offers.”

So, who owns the property?

You’ll have to look across town to City Hall for the answer.  Yep, the city holds all school titles.  Why? City Manager Peggy Merriss explains…

“The City Schools of Decatur were formed as part of the charter of the City of Decatur and do not have a charter separate from the City….the Superintendent was appointed by the Board of Education, the Board was appointed by the City Commission and the City Commission actually approved the School System budget.” This setup gave the city control of school property “so that an appointed board could not acquire or dispose of property without elected body oversight.”

All of that was fine and dandy up until about 15 years ago when Georgia added a state constitutional amendment that required that all school boards across the state be elected and all superintendents be appointed.  This statewide legislation turned the school board, which was once just an arm of Decatur’s city government into a relatively separate functioning body overnight.

However, many of the old structures of government have remained in place, among them school property title ownership.  And over the years, CSD has struggled with this awkward ownership set-up.  Van Soelen notes “CSD does not have its own Bond rating on Wall Street. Instead, we collaborate with the city in order to acquire needed capital. Even a recent example, the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center, required an extensive process with the city in order to work with the Patillo Foundation (Early Learning Property Management). The city needed to lease us the land in order to arrange for the financial agreements with Patillo.”

So while this process has been functional in the past, with two elected boards making decisions, at times it hasn’t been all that efficient.  And that is how the upcoming renovation of 5th Avenue Elementary has brought this complicated relationship to a head.

With Decatur’s student enrollment on the rise, and the approved school reconfiguration hinged on a reopened and renovated 5th Avenue Elementary by the 2011-2012 school year, CSD’s administration and school board are more anxious than ever to acquire school property titles with hopes of speeding up the process.

Back in early September, the Superintendent sent a letter to the Mayor asking about renewing talks about CSD acquiring school titles, in the midst of the 5th Avenue renovation.  The city has responded and during tonight’s city commission meeting will discuss and vote on whether it should take a first step in rectifying this issue by transferring the 5th Avenue’s property over to the Board of Education.

However, there looks to be at least one condition the city will include if they decide to transfer the deed.

While keeping the city commission in control of school property has meant a lot more red tape for all parties over the years, it has allowed the city a final say on school development projects that have an inevitable effect on the city’s overall development pattern. So, in order to retain a voice in the development of school property, the city manager has requested that the city commission approve a zoning change from “residential” to “institutional” for the property, which would “allow the Planning Commission and City Commission in the future to hold public hearings and make recommendations and decisions about any changes to the development footprint.”

So tonight may be the night when CSD finally begins to see some resolution on this long-standing issue.  But don’t think that everything will be resolved after a vote tonight.  While the future ownership of 5th Avenue Elementary may be decided, the Superintendent and school board have been very upfront about wanting to acquire titles for ALL school property.

5th Avenue may be just a first step toward that ultimate goal.

Judd writes in with news that he’s confirmed that Clairemont Saturday Math Academy coordinator Rob Pope will run for Valerie Wilson’s vacated spot on the Board of Education.

Though Rob doesn’t have a website or statement yet, Judd points to this Decatur edTV video about the Clairemont Math Academy to get a good introduction to Rob.

The AJC’s report from the last night’s Board of Education meeting is limited to detailing the $2 million in budget cuts – which were approved – but not a peep regarding reconfiguration.  And since my entire staff decided that a healthy round of beer pong would be more fun than a board of ed meeting, I must ask you, not-so-gentle readers, to fill us in on what was discussed and voted on last night.  And of course, next steps.

Thanks in advance!