Just a friendly reminder – The Decatur School Board is holding a special meeting tonight at 7:30p at the CSD Central Office to discuss the impact of the $82 million GO bond the board has officially requested be put before voters in November.  The official action item on the agenda is…

Request the Board approve direction timing and millage request for the GO Bond prior to joint meeting.

In preparation for the meeting, the AJC provided a summary of the issue over the weekend, which summarized the issues associated with the bond project and added…

There’s also the question if older residents, or residents without children, or residents with children who’ve aged out of CSD, should pay for extensive school additions. In recent weeks the city’s asked the General Assembly for Homestead Exemptions for those over 65 with fixed or low incomes. It’s also collating data from a recently-completed Lifelong Community survey asking how Decatur can remain a desirable home for older residents as well as young families.

“I’m really concerned in general about the future of our school district,” co-chairman Julie Rhame told fellow board members during a Feb. 10 meeting.

Additionally, Decaturish posted a few quotes this morning from the three Decatur City Commissioners present at last week’s meeting regarding the bond issue.  For now, the Commission seems to be taking a “wait and see” approach before giving an opinion on the issue.

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

Oh and pre-registration ends on February 28th, as well.  More details below!

Register now for the 13th Annual Tour deCatur 5k, 1 mile or Tot Trot – this year’s race is extra special since it falls on Pi Day – 3.14.15!

The Tour deCatur, now in its 13th year, gives participants the opportunity to run a 5k road race and/or a 1-mile fun run through neighborhoods of Decatur. This event started as a grassroots fundraiser for the Decatur Education Foundation and has grown into a community wide tradition with over 2700 participants. One registration fee allows participation in any of the events –  5k, 1 mile or Tot Trot. Funds raised by this event support the children and youth of Decatur by providing educational and enrichment opportunities.

• 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk: 8:30am
• 5K Road Race/Walk: 9:00am
• Tot Trot (age 4 and under): 10am

Seegar sends along this info…

After winning the Regional Championship last Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs are hosting Augusta’s Josey High Lady Eagles in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday 2/17, and the game time has been moved up from the previously published 6pm to 4pm because of travel concerns for the visiting team.

Photo courtesy of Decatur Bulldog Basketball

An AJC report from February 5th said that City Schools of Decatur would need around 14 more trailers next year.  The post mentioned CSD would need “six to eight more trailers at Decatur High, four trailers at either Westchester Elementary or Glennwood Elementary and two more at Winnona Park Elementary.”

Well, that number seems to have been revised upward and omitted Renfroe, because a new AJC post states that CSD will add 30 trailers next year…

City Schools Decatur will add roughly 30 trailers next year, including 10 to 13 at Renfroe Middle and five or six at Decatur High, with the remaining going to Winnona Park and Glennwood Elementary schools and possibly Westchester Elementary.

The post goes on to say that CSD will spend $9.7 million on approx. 122 trailers over the next five years.  And that’s only if the $80 million bond vote passes.

The 30 new trailers should be installed by July.

Oakhurst Elementary trailers photo courtesy of Amanda

The Decatur School Board has put a special work session on its calendar for next Monday, February 23rd at 6:30p to discuss the $82 million GO Bond the school system has asked the City Commission to put before voters in November.

AJC’s Bill Banks reports…

It’s looking less and less likely that the City Schools of Decatur can build its way out of its enrollment-growth problem.

Anyone who has an opinion, voiced or unvoiced, regarding the City Schools enrollment issue needs to read this just-released Decaturish report from last night’s School Board meeting regarding how Decatur is rapidly reaching its debt limit.

A few snippets to whet your appetite.  It shouldn’t take much…

As the School Board sat in the new municipal center on Feb. 10, they saw the city approaching [the debt] limit. The School Board needs to issue even more debt to expand its current facilities. Decatur’s constitutional debt limit is 10 percent of the assessed value of its current tax digest, according to Dianne McNabb with Public Financial Management, an advisor for CSD.

At the end of the School Board meeting, board members unanimously decided they’d ask the Decatur City Commission to put an $82 million bond referendum on the ballot this year. But that would only allow the school system to build out its facilities to accommodate about 90 percent of its enrollment projections.

And that money ain’t free either.  Decatur homeowners, please read on…

A bond issue would have to be approved by the voters. Taxpayers would have willingly increase their own millage rate by 4.84 mills if the city borrows $82 million for its schools. For a $300,000 home, that’s $726.51 in additional taxes per year, starting in 2017. For a $700,000 home, that’s an additional $1,695 in taxes.

There are other options to building that have been mentioned here before and are starting to get mentioned by Superintendent Edwards .  Year-round schooling or split-shifts would split kids up into terms/groups that go to school in different cycles (be it weeks or times of day) allowing for greater utilization of existing buildings.  This hasn’t been a popular option in the past, but all of the “better” options are beginning to look quite concerning in the light of day.

It seems like its time to put ALL options out on the table and work this thing out.  Congenially, of course.

There is a new, very interesting report on Decaturish that CSD is growing so fast that it is considering leasing space from other area  school systems. Namely Atlanta or DeKalb.

Additionally, if enrollment continues at it’s current rate, the only other options are ones we’ve floated here in the past, that likely wont be very popular.  It seems that Dr. Edwards agrees. From Decaturish…

Edwards said there are other alternatives if the rental idea doesn’t pan out, but they probably won’t be popular.

One idea is implementing split shifts, meaning that the system will educate one group of students in the morning and another group in the afternoon. The system could also add even more portables. Or it could explore becoming a year-round school system where a portion of the student body is out of school at any given time during the year.

It might not be popular, but as has been pointed out here previously, for that reason it might just be the one thing that can slow the enrollment growth.