Comments on: School Board To Vote On Annexation Tonight

By: Red headed stepchild

Red headed stepchild — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:58:59 +0000

LAPN–
I hate to say it, but this happens a lot, especially in an urban area. Once upon a time I had stars in my eyes as I bought the perfect house in the school zone I desperately wanted for my kids–Glennwood Elementary. I chose Glennwood over the other Decatur elementary schools precisely because of its economic and racial diversity, which was roughly 50/50 at the time. This was in 2002. Since then, we’ve had our neighborhood school pulled out from under us and we now get bused to Winnona Park, which has a very different culture about it. We no longer have a n’hood school to walk to (which we truly enjoyed) for our little ones. Sure, we get Glennwood for two years, but this is not what we wanted. We bought our house specifically to be within walking distance of Glennwood. Sucks.

Things change. We can’t afford to move. We can’t afford (and don’t want) private school. We fought really hard against the current config. We yelled and screamed and canvassed and petitioned and made friends and made enemies. And yet, we have to roll with the punches because that’s really all we can do. We have learned the hard lesson that urban neighborhoods change, sometimes rapidly, and sometimes not the way we want them to.

By: FH Resident

FH Resident — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:28:46 +0000

Decatur Schools are over crowded as is. The Superintendent recognizes that and anticipates internal growth to be that of what the proposed annexation would bring in. Whether it be now or in the near future the city is going to have to improve the infrastructure of the schools to accommodate the growing population. If the city waits to accept this fact they loose all the added revenue the annexation would provide and will have no choice but to raise the taxes on the current residents of Decatur. The recommendation of the Superintendent against annexation surprises me because it seems that the board is just delaying the inevitable.

By: LAPN

LAPN — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:30:08 +0000

I must talk on this earlier comment…
“One reader’s final complaint was why no FH representatives were at the recent meetings? ”

Having been a part of the annexation issue from the very start, I chose NOT to go to the meeting so that I could continue to have hope that our neighborhood still had a chance of being saved. If the city does not annex us, we don’t have a chance. Being part of DeKalb county, especially in our little area that is sandwiched between two cities, we are constantly forgotten.

In addition – After we did our neighborhood survey, which I lead, we met with city officials to give them the data. We have also sent that information to the superintendent. If the data was in front of them, as well as many e-mails and letters from neighbors that support annexation, why would I want to hear all the negative comments. I too have heard people mumble at meetings about how they “don’t want them” (meaning us) to be a part of their city. It is very hurtful and not something I want to subject myself to anymore. I will continue to give the information and data to the people that need it and I will be able to still have a bit of hope.

I want you all to think outside of your own world right now and imagine this…
– You purchased a house in a GREAT neighborhood
– You have watched it change and grow for the past 9 years
– You have wonderful neighbors
– You are involved in your neighborhood school, even though you do not plan to have children
– You give your time to the neighborhood association
– You are involved with local government
– You feel you have a place you can stay for a long time
AND THEN…
– The county closes your school!
– Your friends move from their homes in order for their child to get an education!
– You get no response to important issues from your local government
– If you call 911 they do not come!
– If you call the county for services, they do not come!
– With the lack of services you receive your taxes will still go up due to the fact that others have fled the county in order to save their neighborhoods (ex. Dunwoody)!
– And even worse, you have to seriously consider leaving the home you have built, changed and loved for the past 9 years because of all this.

I want each of you to image how this would make you FEEL! Somehow, we have all gotten so wrapped up in our own thoughts and misconceptions that we have forgotten the faces and families behind all of this. Our neighborhood deserve a chance to survive. Under DeKalb county leadership, we will not.

With that said, none of us want to see the City School in trouble, or services decline. We want to know that annexation would HELP by bringing more tax dollars into the city.

By: Wanting to be Annexed

Wanting to be Annexed — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:49:32 +0000

As an answer to Mr. Fixit’s last posting, take a look at Annexation Area #5. Then look at these streets, Forrest, Walker, Russell, North Carter and Wiltshire. This is Forrest Hills. This is the area that presently has a small number of children. I feel quite sure the all of Annexation Area #5 is included in the data put out at the DCS Meeting. I can tell you that from where I live, there are no children until you get six houses to the right of my house and three houses on the other side there are two. We are not trying to be disingenuous on this issue. But, it is really interesting to hear all of the misunderstandings. It really is too bad that none of this were there to speak for our community. Our hope, which is dwindling, is that the City Commissioners will annex our small portion of Section #5. Forrest Hills does back up to a small section of The Friends School which is necessary for annexation. The area where Friends new school is located, has recently been annexed.

By: MrFixIt

MrFixIt — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:14:23 +0000

Well, city officials have to go on official numbers, it would be negligent to do otherwise. Why would DCSS list children living in Forrest Hills on their school enrollments if they are not there? Also, just bus pick up routes show numbers much, much higher than 30, and that’s just kids who ride the bus in the morning rather than drive or walk and who do not attend an DeKalb magnet, charter or transfer schools. It also does not include toddlers or preschoolers.