Trolling the CSD agenda website – which can be kind of confusing to the uninitiated, but has lots of great info – I found this letter that the superintendent recently wrote to Rep. Hank Johnson soliciting a portion of any future federal infrastructure money to renovate Renfroe and 5th Avenue Elementary.

As many of us are already aware, the Renfroe renovation would be used to build a new 4th/5th wing and renovate much of the current structure. According to the letter, 5th Avenue Elementary would be used as a “combination building which would house a Career Tech Academy and an Early Childhood Learning Center.”

UPDATE: Click here to view the conceptual plans for the Renfroe expansion and the conceptual plan for 5th Ave.

Like there wasn’t already ENOUGH being presented and voted on at tomorrow’s CSD Board of Ed meeting! (Westchester – 6:30p).

According to this recent AJC article, the superintendent’s proposed budget cuts for the 2009-10 school year focus mainly on jobs “by not hiring, by attrition or by eliminating part-time positions which are typically filled by individuals who are retired.”

According to the article, both the Frasier Center and the popular elementary school foreign language program will be saved, though fees at the Frasier Center must be raised to make the program “self-supporting”.

You can view the full list of proposed cuts, along with their estimated cost HERE.

In an effort to be proactive about potential budget cuts, Decatur is the first school system in the state to prepare a slimmer budget for next year. We still don’t know how big (or small) the cuts will be, but in the overview letter for tomorrow’s meeting, Dr. Edwards estimates they could range between 3%-10%.

Hay-on-Wye

I’ve NEVER seen a city RFP receive this much buzz before!

The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper games blog writes up the Virtual Decatur idea, which includes this very British description of our city.

Decatur is a bit Hay-on-Wye (it hosts the largest independent book festival in the country) [DM note: Hay-on-Wye is "the town of books" in Wales], and a bit Oktoberfest (check out the annual Decatur Beer Tasting Festival). It’s also a little bit Beach Blanket Bingo.

Regardless of whether you think the idea has potential or not, you must admit that all this free publicity is quite impressive!

Oh, and congrats to Dennis over at Next Stop for getting linked to by the Guardian for his Beach Party photos!

Inspired by this recent pic over on The Decatur Minute and my frequent dog walks, I’m wondering if there are any pet-friendly Decatur businesses that I’m unaware of.

I’ve got three off the top of my head thus far: Worthmore (above), U-Joint and Taj Ma-Hound.  Where else?