Buckhead Schools Oppose All Four Redistricting Options in APS Demographics Study

From Patch Reports

With the deadline Friday for public comments on the APS' demographics study, the PSTA presidents of Buckhead's northside cluster are opposing all four options for new school districts.

According to the PSTA's Warrior Weekly, the PSTAs at the six elementaries, and North Atlanta want minimial redistricting to maintain current school communities. The schools are part of the North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools, which also opposed the four options.

Residents at a Nov. 30 meeting strongly opposed options such as a plan that would move the Pine Hills neighborhood from the district to . Also, familes now in the district opposed plans that would send their children to different schools.

Here is the Warrior Weekly article:

The North Atlanta PTSA asks for your help in shaping the future of our Northside cluster of schools. In an effort to promote a culture of openness and parental involvement, Atlanta Public Schools is asking for your feedback on the results from the demographic study that were presented at North Atlanta on November 30 (http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/Page/413).  The demographers have proposed four different options to address overcrowding in some districts and underutilization in others. Please note that these options were made without input from or guidance by APS.  

The PTA presidents of our Northside cluster of schools (six elementary schools, Sutton and North Atlanta) and members of their respective school councils have come together and agreed that none of the four options are in the best interest of or satisfy the needs of our schools (http://www.napps.us/). To that end, we would like APS to understand the following reasons why we are unique and why we would like to preserve our current cluster borders and resolve any overcrowding issues ourselves. If you are comfortable with this position, we encourage you to fill out the survey using the below information for reference:
 
•   Check the box that none of the options at the elementary, middle or high school levels are favorable to you. In the comment boxes, we would encourage you to put the following statements when asked why no option is preferred.
 
•   At the elementary level — While we realize that we have several schools that are at or near capacity, we feel that we can address any overcrowding issues within our cluster by doing our own minimal redistricting and allowing as many students as possible to remain at their current schools, thus retaining our current community, diversity and IB vertical integration (we are the only cluster where ALL of the schools are IB certified, an achievement we are all proud of).
 
•   At the middle school level — Sutton’s overcrowding is the foremost issue. We realize that we cannot address this until the new high school is built, but the two scenarios that we would like to be considered are either one middle school on the current North Atlanta campus with the option of a 6th grade academy at the current Sutton location, or two separate middle schools.
 
•   At the high school level — We want all high school students on one campus as, logistically, having non-driving students at another location is a burden that affects academic, cultural and extracurricular activity pursuits, including sports. We would like for the option of a 9th grade academy to be included in the long-term site plan so that, should the time come for an expansion, it has been adequately planned.
 
For the NAPPS statement on the demographers study, check out their website at www.napps.us.
 
Your feedback is vital.
Comments can be sent to: apsdemographicstudy@atlantapublicschools.us.
The deadline to submit comments is
Friday, Dec. 16th.

Please let your voice be heard!
They want as much input as they can to ensure they make the best decision for our cluster.