Better Public Process Needed for Decatur City School Expansion Plans

Went to the last of the town hall meetings Friday morning about the new master plans to expand Renfroe and Decatur High. Kudos to Board of Education members Julie Rhame and Garrett Goebel for being there!

I was pleased to speak with Garrett afterwards. The give-and-take of our conversation was top-notch and illustrative of what is missing in the big picture. It was at once informational and also made it clear that none of us (including Garrett) were 100% certain of our understanding of the different facets of fast-track master plans we’ve heard about multiple times (see http://www.csdecatur.net). The confusion about the details underscores the need to slow down and take time to include the public and be clear in our planning and our understanding of our city’s plans before locking in to a vote.

Planning contractor-recommended Option 3 is the only option currently presented in two phases which is a device to keep the initial cost down. Option 3 emphasizes new build (124,000 sq. ft.) at Renfroe in phase 1, then in phase 2 to build a new middle school in the backyard of Renfroe, reorient the front from US278 / GA10 / West College Avenue onto little, historic, three-block long Kings Highway. Then the old school (which was recently renovated) would be demolished and the property would be re-graded to build a new field. This is the plan which may be voted on as early as May 14 by the school board.

The smartest feedback I have heard yet, from a citizen speaker, is to take Option 1 which emphasizes renovation of the existing Renfroe classroom building, and turn IT into two phases, build the 124,000 sq. ft. (of Option 3 phase 1) and preserve the open space for future expansion needs, if they ever materialize. The price is certainly right … Option 1 is $153/sq. ft, Option 3 is $160/sq. ft.

But how can we embrace this idea, or any others, such as adding sorely needed school property (consider DeVry or Galloway) with the fast-track calendar currently proposed?

And why are we even hurrying so fast? We have 400 kids in 1st grade (up from 180) but it will be five years before that class hits Renfroe, and eight new Splost classrooms are already in the works to accommodate that first wave.

Last month the school’s master plans burst into the news and we have seen the school board respond to the controversy so far by postponing the Option 3 vote for a month (to May 14) and set up multiple meetings to explain the plans to the community. Can the Decatur Board of Education continue its responsive trend to more truly accommodate public input? It would be ideal to pause and undertake the patented Decatur roundtable process to better plan for the projected doubling of our student community. A tax referendum in November 2014 would still be timely and would have more solid chance of passing if the community becomes invested in its purpose.

It will also benefit our young ones to grow up and into a school system which well reflects the values and ethics of their parents, neighbors and civic leaders. It is up to all of us to make Decatur City Schools not just the fastest growing school system in Georgia, but truly the greatest.