The City Schools of Decatur has only raised the tuition at its 0-3 year-old program at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center by $20/month since it was acquired by CSD back in 2011, according to a note to the School Board from College Heights Principal Suzanne Kennedy.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Decatur School Board approved phasing in a much larger tuition increase at the ECLC over the next three school years.

Principal Kennedy stated in her note to the Board that the ECLC’s tuition rates are “significantly lower than current market value” according to a review of the tuition levels at 10 comparable childhood learning centers around Atlanta.  Principal Kennedy also noted that CSD currently supplements the ECLC to the tune of $1,350,000 a year.

And of course one can’t consider this without first reflecting on CSD’s ever-top-of-mind K-12 student enrollment bulge.

Principal Kennedy stated “College Heights funding may become a larger challenge than it is today given the significant increases in student enrollment across the district and CSD’s primary mandate to serve the K-12 program. After reviewing this information, the council agreed that it was time to adjust tuition rates to be more aligned to other centers and to become more financially sustainable.”

After a “significant amount of deliberation and discussion” including three ECLC Advisory Council Meetings, discussions with Council Members, and “informal Hallway/cocktail/coffee conversations”, CSD staff recommended a gradual increase in ECLC monthly tuition over the next three school years.

As shown in the chart above from the presentation attached to the recommendation, in 2015-2016, tuition will rise $100 from the current level of $1000/month for infants and $900/month for 2-3 year olds.  In both 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, the tuition rate will rise again for both age groups by $150/month each school year.  CSD will also offer a “family discount” of 10% for oldest child if 2 or more enrolled in 0-3.

After all is said and done, monthly tuition is rising from $1,000/month to $1,400 for infants and from $900/month to $1,300/month for 2-3 year-olds by the 2017-2018 school year.

These tuition increases will bring in an additional $543,000 per year (as shown in the chart below), helping to close the $1,350,000 gap that currently exists in the program’s costs and its tuition revenue.

Charts and tables courtesy of ECLC presentation to School Board

CSD’s regular enrollment table updates are a great way to keep an eye on Decatur’s most talked about topic.

The chart above is set up to track against projected levels for the coming year, but we can also used the data to make comparisons to get a sense for what is actually happening.

First of all, as you can see above, enrollment for next year has already surpassed the final levels for the current school year (4407 vs. 4344).  While Kindergarten is still has a ways to go – since many in that grade are new to the system and need to actively enroll – many other grades for next year are at or above the previous enrollment level last year.

However, perhaps an even more telling comparison at this juncture isn’t included in the chart above.

What if we were to a look at enrollment levels for the following year now and vs. the same period last year?  Luckily we are proficient enough in CSD’s eBoard system and Excel to put together a little table that shows just that.

As you can see from the above, CSD’s enrollment levels thru March 27th are already up 9% vs. enrollment levels thru one week earlier last year.  (That’s as close as I could get from the data available) This seems to indicate that so far this year, enrollment is still growing near CSD’s projected 10% rate.

As you can see from CSD’s line chart below, enrollment increases have fluctuated between 8%-12% over the last 5 years.  This early indication seems to show that this trend could easily continue into the next school year.

There’s a new series of questions on Decatur’s Open City Hall from City Schools of Decatur gauging resident reactions to solutions to deal with Decatur’s rising enrollment levels.  Here’s the intro…

In order to gauge the opinion of residents of the City of Decatur, City Schools of Decatur (CSD) is using the city’s online tool, Open City Hall, and asking that you complete this short survey.

Currently CSD is experiencing unprecedented enrollment growth. The School Board and Superintendent have been studying enrollment projections for a number of years. Ten years ago, CSD’s enrollment was approximately 2,200. Today at 4,336 students, enrollment has surpassed the highest previous historic level. By 2020, using low growth estimates, enrollment is slated to be over 6,500. Additional information is available for review on the CSD website at www.csdecatur.net.

And here are the questions being posed…

• Are you aware that, according to Georgia Department of Education guidelines, CSD schools are currently at capacity?
• Would you support $60 million in bond financing that meets 89% of the projected low growth enrollment needs and increases property taxes on a $500,000 home by approximately $545 per year.
• Would you support $75 million in bond financing that meets 93% of the projected low growth enrollment needs and increases property taxes on a $500,000 home by approximately $680 per year?
• Would you support $82 million in bond financing that meets 100% of the projected low growth enrollment needs and increases taxes on a $500,000 home by approximately $744 a year?
• Would you support any of the following alternatives to building new facilities (check all that apply):
• Do you have children enrolled in City Schools of Decatur (CSD)?
• How many years have you lived in the City of Decatur?
• Do you have any other comments about school funding?

Go provide your feedback!

From the City Schools of Decatur website…

Are you interested in learning more about the proposed general obligation bond, rising enrollment and master plan?

Please join City Schools of Decatur on March 31, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. OR 6:30 p.m. in the Board of Education Room at the Central Office at Beacon Hill (125 Electric Avenue) for an opportunity to learn more about these important topics.

Which questions would you like answered in this session?

Decaturish is reporting that Decatur Superintendent Phyllis Edwards announced at this evening’s Board Meeting that she is resigning and will stay on until the School Board finds a replacement.

Dr. Edwards has been Decatur’s Superintendent since 2003.

Decaturish reports that Dr. Edwards told the Board that she will be moving moving back to Florida to spend more time with her family.

Board Chair Garrett Goebel said that the Board planned a “national search” for a replacement.

There have been whispers over on the AJC of late about the number of trailers/learning cottages/modular classrooms coming to the City of Decatur school system in the coming year.

Welp, there’s an item on the Decatur School Board agenda for its March meeting, “Move to approve System Wide Modular Mfg. Construction Management/Design Build Services 2015-2015 School Year Contract”, which officially recommends placement of trailers next year…

• Decatur High School – 6 new, 4 existing for a total of 10
• Renfroe Middle School – 12 new
• Elementary – 8 new (split between Winnona Park and Glennwood)

CSD staff recommends a $240,590 contract for set up and installation and a 36 month lease agreement not to exceed roughly $25,000/month.

Photo of Oakhurst Elementary trailers courtesy of Amanda

Every two years, the City of Decatur works with the National Research Center to send out a Citizen Survey to over 1,000 randomly selected list of residents and asks them a number of questions.  The survey asks residents for their opinions on everything from city services, to how safe residents feel, how often they use the DeKalb Library or how often ride a bus.

You get the the picture.  It runs the gamut.  That includes questions about your household.

And here’s one very apt question – considering the city’s school enrollment drama – that the city has asked since the survey’s inception in 2006 – “Do any children 17 or under live in your household?”

We’ve charted the percentage of households that answered “Yes” to that question each time the survey has been conducted above.

As you can see quite clearly, the slight over-index of the 17-and-under crowd in 2006 to the current national average has become a giant advantage in 2014, with a cool 41% of households in the City of Decatur answering “Yes” to that question.

It should be noted that the resident majority still favors the childless household – an important consideration for the School Board and City Commission if they decide to put an $82 million bond referendum for all city residents to vote on in November.

And before anyone brings up the accuracy of a the survey, the confidence level is “plus or minus five percentage points around any given percent reported for the entire sample.”  So yes, technically, the child population could be flat from 2012 to 2014, but that’s pretty unlikely.  The upward trend is certainly real, as well as the fact that Decatur far outperforms the national average when it comes to households with kids.

You can view all the detailed data from Decatur’s 2014 Citizen Survey HERE.

*2013 National average estimate taken from US Census