Decatur School Board member John Ahmann just forwarded the note he sent to his fellow board members, alerting them to what he plans to propose at tonight’s meeting.  Here it is in full…

I have reviewed the June 7, 2011 memo from CSD Legal Counsel Bob Wilson regarding the parliamentary procedures for placing on the June 14, 2011 Board agenda the action items I previously requested.  I will not be seeking to rescind  priors actions of the Board.

At the beginning of the meeting, when the Board customarily approves the agenda for the meeting, I will seek to amend the agenda to add three items:

1. An action item to direct the Superintendent to answer all of my submitted questions or those of other board members on the adopted Bell schedule and my proposed bell schedule for the 2011-2012 school year as well as any questions posed during the discussion of the action item.

These questions include:

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What Now Atlanta? has a couple new quotes from Selig regarding this Wal-Mart Suburban Plaza story, but first let me recap.

Tomorrow’s News Today posted this story based on sources and a display of “Suburban Plaza Featuring Wal-Mart” that Selig put up at RECON (The Global Retail Real Estate Convention) in Las Vegas at the end of May.  A separate source also confirmed this, as well as gave some details of the plans that were shown (underground parking, etc…)

Now What Now Atlanta? has this quote from Selig…

“We are thoroughly researching the redevelopment of Suburban Plaza but have no commitments at this time,” [Bill ] Stogner, said. “We are in the process of reviewing our options.”

…“Selig has approached us,” [senior manager of public affairs and government relations for Walmart Glen] Wilkins said. “Walmart is interested in the area but does not have a contract with Selig.”

And while Tomorrow’s News Today stated yesterday that “…nothing is confirmed…”, What Now Atlanta tells me via Twitter that Wilkin’s said the proposal in Las Vegas was created by Selig and not Wal-Mart.

Guess we’ll wait for Tomorrow’s News Today’s response.

Shadowmoor Drive, Decatur GA (pics submitted by Greg)  – See where the QR code takes you after the jump.

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Allison Taylor writes…

A very important issue is coming up regarding funding for our pre-k program, and the board will be voting on the teacher salary at tonight’s board meeting. I don’t know that very many parents in CSD know the whole story about what is going on with this particular subject, so please take just a minute to read this message.

I am sure most of you have heard about the shortening of the pre-k school year by the governor. Basically, the school year will decrease from 180-160 days. Many teachers throughout the state were concerned about this shortening of the year, but I think most everyone was relieved to avoid the half day proposition which was also on the table and let the issue rest when this “compromise” was made. HOWEVER, there is some very important information that went along with this bill that is not widely known and was certainly not publicized. Not only have teacher’s salaries been cut to reflect the number of days they are teaching, the state has also placed caps on the salaries. As it stands now in Decatur, a teacher with 4 years of experience, A Bachelor Degree, and a teaching certificate, will only make $31,303. Someone with the same credentials and 20 years of experience will only make $35,982. And someone who has devoted 30 years to teaching the children of CSD can only make $39,747.

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Don’t you love it when a random ranker in a travel magazine spits all over your hometown?  From Travel + Leisure, who recently ranked Atlanta the 9th dirtiest city in the U.S…

Many cities that made the dirtiest Top 10 scored well for having a vivid nightlife, cool neighborhoods, or great live music. Alas, Atlanta couldn’t claim any of those in the survey. At least the city has its quality—and sloppy—barbecue going for it.

Huh?  This kick-you-while-your-down statement comes from T+L’s recent “America’s Favorite Cities” survey, which sort of suggests that visitors to Atlanta aren’t aware of our great neighborhoods or music scene.  Also, in case you’re interested, Atlanta also ranked among the bottom 10 cities among visitors for Farmer’s Markets, “neighborhood joints or cafes”, “boutique hotels”, microbrew beer, live music and intelligence.

Ignoring the fact that both residents and visitors alike agree that the city is “dirty” and not environmentally friendly, pedestrian friendly or safe, it seems like we’ve got some PR work to do in the great neighborhoods realm.

Right now the only folks that come to Atlanta, check-in to their plushy business hotels (#8) and sit down in their Aeron desk chair to map out their barbeque (#10) tour around the city.

h/t: Atlanta Business Chronicle