Comments on: CSD Addresses 5th Avenue and Beacon Hill Debate

By: sadie

sadie — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:21:17 +0000

not new to decatur, have been paying plenty of taxes for 17 years. if westchester is not useable as a school, how about selling that choice piece of real estate and use the proceeds to invest in teachers and maybe even give the taxpayers some relief?

By: writerchad

writerchad — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:19:41 +0000

Westchester is no more walkable now than it was 5 years ago. Scott Blvd will always be a busy street. And this is coming from a resident of one of the busiest, fastest streets/roads in Decatur.

By: "Naaman" Gibbets

"Naaman" Gibbets — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:53:27 +0000

Thanks Dick!

By: Bill Bibb

Bill Bibb — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:39:44 +0000

“I again invite the Board of CSD to have a dialogue about this issue. There should not be such a dramatic disparity in the quality of public education only 1 mile from Decatur, with no avenue to remedy the problem, and no real accountability from the people who can. The Charter

Commission is vital to improving the quality of education in this state. I hope you will begin to consider the needs of stuidents other than those in CSD schools and drop your opposition to this law.”

As a taxpayer in the City of Decatur of which a substantial amount of our taxes go for the schools, there is a very good reason for the “dramatic disparity in the quality of education only 1 mile from Decatur” Unfortunately for Avondale and, it really is a shame, I presume that most, if not all of their budget for education is derived from the county and state and, the county has a lot to say about how that money is spent. If not, please set me straight. Just because a farm on the other side of the street decided to invest many years ago into modern technology to produce quality crops is no reason for the farm who did not similarly invest…. complain many years later that their crops just don’t stack up. I would suggest that Avondale adjust its tax base and make whatever arrangements they may be able to do with the county such they can have their own school system. Of course CSD is not going to be in favor of a law which could undercut the efforts and the energy and the money they have spent in developing their system.

By: grackle

grackle — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:08:51 +0000

They were in dark, nasty, rat infested, tiny offices that were an appendage to Decatur High. These were torn down when the new gym was built.

Westchester may very well reopen one day, particularly if there is an annexation in our future. It won’t work for the 4/5 academy b/c of its small size and b/c of state/local stream buffer issues (different from flood plain issues) that prevent any sort of significant expansion or demo/rebuilding. There was a good bit of consideration of using Westchester for a 4/5 last spring, but the reconfiguration committee determined it was unworkable.

Are you new to Decatur, Sadie?

By: sadie

sadie — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:36:57 +0000

since “walkable” now seems to be out, given academies that cover just a couple of grades, and that most of the school building and that fantastic field just sit there, reopening as a school would seem to be worthy of consideration. what did the administration do for offices before westchester?

By: Bill Bibb

Bill Bibb — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:53:52 +0000

To be honest, I don’t know enough about all of the issues involved in this debate to comment much. However, I think I do need to comment on the use of anecdotes in a debate. First, most of what I am about to write are my observations only (i.e. anecdotal) and, as such, I am not sure what conclusions can be drawn. When we first moved to Decatur in 1978, we were the youngest people in our neighborhood (Glenwood Estates) and we were childless. By the time our first son (Robert) was born in 1983, baby carriages were evident; at least in Glenwood Estates. When Robert entered kindergarten (there were no preschools) at Glenwood there were about 10 other children from the neighborhood in his class. When our younger son, John, entered Glenwood 5 years later, there were only 2 children from the neighborhood in his class, even though baby carriage spottings had not noticeably diminished over that period. Some parents had opted to send their children to private schools over sending them to Glenwood. We even considered sending John to private school because of ‘issues’ which existed at Glenwood. Over the next decade or so, the age of the residents in Glenwood estates increased, presumably because people are happy in Decatur and don’t want to move (the large majority of the parents’ of John’s and Robert’s peers remain in the neighborhood) and, baby carriage sightings decreased. Within the last 5-10 years, there has once again been an increase in baby carriage sightings. What does all this mean? Hell, I’m not sure without conducting a study or looking at a lot of data. That’s not to say that anecdotal evidence should be totally dismissed. It can provide for a working hypothesis that should perhaps be tested and that is why consultants were hired to attempt to make predictions. I presume the contractor had experience in population dynamics and statistics and was able to make a “best estimate” in predicting the future population of children in CSD. In conclusion, John and Robert both went through the CSD. Robert graduated magna cum laude from Georgia Tech in Chemistry. John is a senior at Georgia Tech majoring in Electrical engineering and computer science with similar grades. Their success is not due to genetics, but to the outstanding education that they received in the CSD. Part of this education was due to the parental involvement in the school system. I’m glad to see it has not waned

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:16:13 +0000

Nellie raises the relevant question. Harsh or not, CSD is obligated to protect Decatur’s long-term educational interests. In some cases, that may involve taking a position on or further lobbying state issues. That doesn’t mean we don’t applaud efforts in Avondale (I know, personally, that I do) but our school board was not elected to serve as cheerleaders for other municipalities.

In the harsh world of winners and losers, Decatur has a nice niche as an intown community that can offer a stellar education. Because this is a relatively rare phenomenon, that makes living here very attractive for some buyer segments and adds a nice layer of protection and enhancement to our property values.

As other intown communities solve or mitigate their school issues, Decatur becomes less unique in this regard and the value of that draw is diminished. It may be inevitable but our leaders are not obligated to help expedite it.