International Community School Seeks New Home; Wants Avondale Middle

Avondale Middle School hasn't even closed yet and already, it has a charter school suitor.

The International Community School on the fringes of Avondale Estates is looking at consolidating two campuses into one building. The charter school has its eyes on Avondale Middle, that is, if the vacant Forrest Hills Elementary building doesn't become available to them either.

With two campuses - including one in Stone Mountain on James B. Rivers Drive, the school serves 400 Kindergarten to sixth grade students from more than 40 countries. The main campus operates in Avondale Pattillo United Methodist Church.

"We are talking to the DeKalb County School System about some options they have on HB 555 that says school districts should rent or lease facilities at not cost to charter schools," said Laurent Ditmann, principal of ICS. "We didn’t get anywhere under old management and now they are talking to us about some options."

Before HB 555 in 2009, the school had hoped Forrest Hills Elementary, on Forrest Boulevard, would be an option since its closure in 2007. But their requests were denied despite neighborhood support.

The school sits in the Forrest Hills neighborhood between Avondale Estates and City of Decatur. It was recently used as the set for "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," still being filmed around Georgia with .

"In my opinion no one will get Forrest Hills," Ditmann said. "I don’t have the feeling that it’s on the table."

Avondale Middle is among eight schools that will close at the end of this academic year. The closures are part of the that will save the system an estimated $12.4 million each year and address the 11,000 empty seats throughout the district. Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson made the decision on March 7.

Much like DeKalb Schools' budget shortfall, ICS recently faced of its own. In February, the school laid off nine workers, mostly assistant teachers. In addition, all administrators, teachers and staffers took equal pay cuts across the board.

DeKalb board member Donna Edler, whose District 7 oversees Avondale Middle, said she heard through the grapevine that ICS has interest one or both of the schools. But, she said, it has not come up to the board yet.

"I think a new superintendent will have some new say on that," Edler said, referring to the June 30 deadline for the system to have its new superintendent in place.

Ditmann remains hopeful.

"We need to get a single facility," Ditmann said. "We are landlocked. We cannot grow. Both facilities are inadequate and seven miles from each other. We don’t have a gym or a theatre, though our teachers create very innovative pedagogys."

He added, "I'm hopeful that we will be able to negotiate some sort of agreement. We have to stay pretty much in the vicinity of where we are because of our refugee population. Many of our families come from Clarkston."

*EDITOR's NOTE: This story was amended on March 18 with a correction. Please see new story http://patch.com/A-fV9n for details.