Stakeholders say ‘no’ to considering CSD school closure

Parents, teachers, staff and students packed into the lunchroom of City Schools of Decatur’s Beacon Hill Middle School on Oct. 29 to learn – and voice questions and concerns about – a possible elementary school closure.  

Officials with City School of Decatur (CSD) said the public hearing was prompted by the district receiving more than 600 emails and calls from the community after discussing school consolidation and redistricting at a board of education (BOE) retreat earlier this year. 

“We want to make it clear that a decision hasn’t been made and we’re in the process of learning and trying to respond to make sure we do this process right,” said CSD Chief Operations Officer Jarvis Adams before introducing James Wilson, CEO of Education Planners, a consulting firm, to present data showing why CSD is considering closing one of its K-2 schools. 

In his presentation, Wilson pointed to national and local trends showing declining birthrates and, in CSD, bigger senior graduating classes than incoming kindergarten classes since 2021.  

“Since 2019, enrollment has been on a decline,” said Wilson. “The numbers show that CSD is now graduating more students than enrolling.” 

Wilson and Adams explained that an elementary enrollment of at least 200 students is required to receive the state of Georgia’s capital outlay funding. “If a school system chooses to continue the operation of schools below the minimum requirements, those schools will be excluded from all calculations involving the allotment of those funds,” said Wilson. 

According to the Georgia Department of Education’s website, Georgia capital outlay funding is approved for new construction, additions, renovations, and/or modification projects.  

After Wilson’s presentation, parents and other stakeholders took turns speaking for more than an hour with a unifying message and request: do not close any CSD school. 

“This data is a little misleading,” said Bernard Fraga, a parent of a CSD student. “The kindergarten class this year is made up of children born between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020. That is the lowest birthrate we saw in Decatur in 40 years – and a global pandemic was happening. Why is this important? Because the population in our district for K-2 fluctuates. It went up 200 people in a two-year period less than six years ago.” 

“Our fear is that making a big decision, like closing a school based on the worst year we have for birth rates in Decatur is a big mistake,” continued Fraga. “We may have to reopen a school in a few years.” 

Speaker after speaker echoed Fraga’s statements while also voicing dissatisfaction with what they perceive as CSD’s lack of information, transparency and willingness to work with the community before considering the “nuclear option” of closing a school. 

Multiple speakers brought up ideas including redistricting CSD’s K-2 schools to include preschoolers or third graders in order to meet requirements for funding discussed during the presentation. Some also spoke about advertising CSD as an option for paid enrollment for those who live outside of the district. 

“Yes, there is a national average of school enrollment declining, but CSD can attract more students to our district because we’re amazing,” said Tiffany Ryce, a music teacher at Westchester Elementary School. “We have the test scores, academics, teachers, and staff to increase our district when those around us are decreasing. If we were to advertise more about our school district and the amazing things that are happening here, we can have the numbers to keep all of our schools open.” 

At the end of the public hearing, Adams said the public had given CSD “much to think about.”  

He also said stakeholders are asked to provide feedback, as well as any additional data, analysis and other materials, on a form accessible at csdecatur.net. 

The public hearing held on Oct. 29 will not be counted as one of the two public hearings required by law for a public school closure, stated CSD officials. 

For more information, visit csdecatur.net and www.savedecaturschools.com.