Chca community Meeting December 15, 2014
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| CHCA Community Meeting
December 15, 2014 Michael Dowling opened the meeting and introduced the CHCA officers and guest officials – Trenton Arnold, DSCSD; Marshall Orson, DCSD; Alex Wan, Atlanta City Council; and Matthew Westmorland, APS. Elena Parent, State Senator, joined the meeting after about 30 minutes. Michael explained that the goal of CHCA is not to advocate a particular position but to keep communication open and facilitate conversation. Some of the survey results were recapped A great majority of people knew of the annexation possibilities 81% preferred an existing city to a new city Based on these results, CHCA decided to appoint board liaisons for CoD annexation and for CoA annexation Home values and schools were by far the greatest concerns Background on the annexation/cityhood issues Mutiple cityhood issues have created the rush to incorporate The GA House Government Affairs panel is not empowered to resolve the annexation disputes, just the new cityhood boundaries DHCA has been exploring annexation for the past 2 years driven by concerns about incorporations, potentially shifting the tax burden to DH; anger over Clifton Ridge, and the failure of the DHCC DHCA has called for a referendum on annexation CHCA is on the proposed annexation map Moving forward The CoA annexation map has changed somewhat; the DCSD properties at Briarcliff have been removed from the TIA map and put into LaVista Hills The biggest complication is that 3 elementary schools are not on the CoA annexation map Annexation law indicates that school properties within an annexed area follow the annexation Area A of the CoD plan could interfere with contiguous boundaries and entryways to CHCA – we have raised concerns regarding this intersection with our legislators Each of the guest speakers introduced themselves Elena Parent – I’m happy to be here and to answer questions as best I can.” Matt Westmorland – “I represent District 3 in APS. I have no decision in the annexation process but I’m happy to answer questions.” Alex Wan – “I represent the City of Atlanta Commission. I’m happy to answer whatever questions I can.” Marshall Orson – “My main concern is that all children receive a quality education. This is a difficult process and I’m here to help however I can.” Trenton Arnold – “I’m here from DCSD and I’m happy to answer whatever questions you have for me.” The CHCA Liaisions for each cityhood/annexation possibility gave their reports. Jim Smith for Lavista Hills – Lavista Hills has just lost the Executive Park commercial area to Brookhaven. There is some uncertainty as to the viability of the new city without this commercial area, but as far as we know now there are no plans for a new viability study. Pete Rumsey for City of Decatur – City of Decatur initially accepted petitions to be added to the annexation map but -at the end of the process no additional areas were added to the original map. The likelihood of Clairmont Heights being added to the map is very low. A group of CHCA residents did submit a letter to Decatur requesting that Area A not be annexed into Decatur. Together In Atlanta representative John McQuiston and Gerard Borda made a presentation on the TIA effort. John showed a map of the proposed cities/annexations which indicates that about 95% of unincorporated Dekalb is on one map or another. Some of the maps overlap as well. TIA has had input from the Druid Hills, Victoria Estates, Clairmont Heights, and Briar Vista communities. If annexation were to go through it would include the Briar Vista and Fernbank Elementary school zones and Emory University. Area A on the CoD annexation map is currently zoned for Fernbank and we consider it an integral part of the TIA map. Goals for Clairmont Heights – maintain our inclusion in the Fernbank Elementary school zone Comparison of CoA and unincorporated Dekalb (attachment A) Timeline November 2014 – petition for annexation January 2015 – annexation becomes a bill January – March 2015 – bill voted on and if approved, signed by the governor November 2015 – referendum voted on by area to be annexed Summer 2016 – earliest annexation could become effective Q&A Can APS provide assurances that the staff in the schools would be rehired in case of annexation? Matt Westmorland – “The specific answer is ‘no’. I can’t make assurances. If a school moves from one system to another, the superintendents would need to work out staffing. “ Trent Arnold – “Employee contracts are with Dekalb County and there is no guarantee that contracts would transfer.” Can you talk at all about the charter system – we have been told that Dekalb is not open to charters. Trent Arnold – “The district is pursuing charter system status. The administration has recommended that the petition for charter system status be delayed to the 2016-2017 school year. The petition will be revised and submitted next year. Regarding charter schools, the district has been supportive of charter schools. Several charters have just been approved and/or reapproved.” IB Diploma program – will Fernbank and Druid Hills lost the IB programs if annexed into APS? Matt Westmorland – “IB is school specific. APS has two full IB clusters and I see no reason for the IB designation to change.” Can CoD pre-emptively annex Area A? Are negotiations taking place regarding Area A? Elena Parent – “I presume this relates to the Executive Park annexation. I believe Area A has too many owners/residents for that to happen unlike Executive Park which has no residential.” Alex Wan – “To my knowledge, I don’t know that any conversations are taking place.” What is the process for determining school zones and how can parents have input? Can current high school staff have seniority? Matt Westmorland – “The answer is very fluid. Several possibly configurations. APS has lots of over-crowding in the Grady cluster that needs to be addressed. Grandfathering in kids would be decided by the superintendents. Hopefully all these questions would be answered once a referendum is passed. Marshall Orson – “It would be incumbent upon Dekalb county to discuss options once a referendum passed. APS and Dekalb must confer and plan. We must all be able to work together. “ Trenton Arnold – “Dekalb is still pursuing the charter system. Should that or annexation happen we still have a responsibility to the kids.” Are the apartments and the retiremenbt community included in the TIA map? John McQuiston – “If it’s currently in the Fernbank attendance zone it should be in the TIA map. WIllivee is in the Laurel Ridge zone so it’s not currently in the TIA map.” From Medlock – who would sponsor legislation for the annexation into CoA? Would Atlanta or Dekalb introduce the legislation and who would vote on it? Elena Parent – “In the past, Dekalb had to vote on Chamblee annexation. I’ve also heard that the Atlanta delegation could sponsor it. There are many ways it could be done but I encourage people to consider the ramifications.” There has been a lot of talk about not allowing islands. What is the smallest unincorporated area that would be allowed? Elena Parent – “I would urge people to consider a city. Mr. Arnold, you said that Dekalb is favorable to charters – what would the district feel about a charter cluster outside the Druid Hills charter? Trenton Arnold – “Charters would be favorably reviewed.” Question regarding the HOST. Michael Dowling – “That information is all listed on the DHCA website.” CoA and APS have a dispute regarding the Beltline funds. How do tax receipts look for this year? Marshall Orson – “Tax receipts look good for this year.” Matt Westmorland – “Revenue is up in CoA too. The city and the school system are talking regarding the Beltline funds.” Directory: sites -> default -> files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations files -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program files -> Occupational health and safety files -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program files -> International programs roel profile files -> Fermi Questions a guide for Teachers, Students, and Event Supervisors Lloyd Abrams, Ph. D. DuPont Company, cr&D/ccas experimental Station Wilmington, de 19880 files -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status Download 15.38 Kb. Share with your friends:
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