Comments on: CSD Committee Recommends Three K-3 Rezoning Options

By: Rick Julian

Rick Julian — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:00:43 +0000

don’t underestimate the skill required to manage and sustain success—especially with the kind of growth we’ve had.

By: primadonnamomma

primadonnamomma — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 15:20:55 +0000

We’ve been here for 11 years – moved here for the excellent schools, in fact. What I’ve seen during that time is a mass influx of well-to-do, well educated parents fleeing DeKalb County schools, City of Atlanta schools or even Clayton County (remember that disaster? At the time, I saw more than one Clayton County plate pulling up to my child’s elementary.)
How much of this change really can be attributed to our school system’s leadership?

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 14:53:17 +0000

Keep up the good fight. School systems sometimes aim for the minimum letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law which is to allow each child to reach their full potential, not just get over some minimum bar. It’s hard enough to have a child who needs an IEP and/or 504 plan; it’s an indignity to then have to fight for it.

Agree that our great CSD teachers are admirable and that they have higher stress, less control, and more accountability, for less pay compared to most professions.

By: Oateoateo

Oateoateo — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 14:35:09 +0000

Having FOUGHT HARD to get my daughter the education she is entitled to under federal and state law (requesting both an IEP and a 504 plan and being denied despite evaluation results to the contrary), I do applaud the many teachers who have made their own accomodations for her. After speaking at length with the DOE and two different attorneys who specialize in this area of the law, I was told time and time again the CSD fights these designations greatly given the additional time, energy and resources required to address the issues of children who *should* be protected by these laws. We moved here, and enrolled our daughter here, because we liked the diversity. In reading the comments, it is hard to come to a decision as to whether I would prefer my daughter to attend school with her neighbors, or if it would be better for her to have more specialized instruction at a different location. I understand the inclusion argument, but I also know that my daughter has cried more than once because she feels “stupid” and and “embarassed” that she is not on par with her classmates. I believe there is no right answer to how the re-districting should shake out, but the heart of it should be how ALL of our kids can best succeed, as opposed to how short their walk (or a parent’s commute) to school would be. I would like to close by stating again my great respect for the teachers in our schools. Their responsibilities are great, their accountability is more onerous than almost any other profession I know of, and I cannot say thank you enough for the people who have helped my daughter learn.

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:55:14 +0000

Rather than invent conspiracy theories, or rewrite history, or call our school leadership a bunch of liars, or call my neighbors racists, I’m going to highlight the significant amount of transparency and public input involved in this process. Good job.

If school enrollment numbers keep exploding, and they likely will, then we will probably have to do this again at some point. When that happens it’s good to know we have a proven model to make it work.

Now back to the regularly scheduled bashing and questioning of motives…