Decatur School Board, Commission To Discuss Bond Referendum

The Decatur City Commission and the city school board will hold a joint meeting Monday to talk about a $59 million bond referendum needed to pay for a major expansion of two schools.

The meeting starts at 5:15 p.m. in city hall.

The school system wants to renovate and enlarge Decatur High and Renfore Middle schools because enrollment in those schools is expected to double by 2018. Early plans called for the building of a whole new Renfroe; now only renovation is sought.

But only the Decatur City Commission can vote to put the referendum on the ballot. The school board wants the public to vote during the upcoming November election.

In communications to the school board, Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said the city commission needed to give the green light by Aug. 5 to make the Nov. 5 ballot. Lead time is needed for legal advertisements.

The regular city commission meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. and can be watched on live streaming video through the City of Decatur website.

The commission is expected to vote on establishing no-parking zones around newly installed traffic calming devices at Northern and Ponce de Leon avenues and also at Ponce de Leon Place and Clairemont Avenue.

Go to the city website to see the full agenda.