Decatur, GA — The City Schools of Decatur School Board will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. for a regular meeting. The meeting will be held in person at the Wilson School Support Center, 125 Electric Ave., and virtually via Zoom.
The school board has updated its meeting schedule and will meet once a month. Meeting times vary each month based on the length of the agenda, according to a press release. Except for the executive session, all meetings will continue to be live-streamed and open to the public.
Here is the meeting schedule for Sept. 12:
Executive Session: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Prework Session: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Work Session: 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Board Meeting: 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Public Comment: 6:30 p.m. – 6:50 p.m.
During the regular meeting, the school board will discuss the 2023-2024 board meeting calendar.
During the work session, the school board will discuss grading and assessment. In 2021, the district formed a grading task force that was charged with studying equitable grading practices and offering recommendations. Last year, CSD implemented some of the recommendations from the task force, according to the presentation attached to the agenda.
To access the meeting, follow these instructions:
To view the meeting agendas, click here.
To join the meetings via Zoom, click here. To join by phone, dial+1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592. The webinar ID is 956 1415 9391.
To make a public comment, in-person attendees can register online before the meeting or upon arrival by scanning a QR Code on the Board Room entrance. Registration will ensure that the district collects information necessary to conduct COVID-19 contact tracing. Please ensure the name you enter on the form matches the name you use(d) to sign-up. If the names do not match, it will not be possible for you to be recognized to participate in public comment. To sign up for public comment, click here.
Some of the recommendations from the task force included having a consistent grading system and platform, no longer using ManageBac for general grade recording and reporting, relating all grading to the mastery of content standards, and implementing clear policies, parameters, and boundaries around make-ups and retakes, according to the presentation.
“Teachers, building, and district leadership teams met second semester and agreed on mean as calculation method for 23-24 school year for both DHS and BHMS,” the presentation states.
Additionally, during the work session, the school board will discuss converting two CSD-owned homes into duplexes that would be used as affordable rental options for school district employees. In February, the school board authorized the former superintendent to apply for the necessary permits to move forward with the project.
The school board has not said publicly how it will go about subdividing the homes.
On Feb. 6, the Decatur City Commission unanimously adopted zoning amendments to re-allow duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes in single-family zoning districts. The ordinance went into effect on June 30.
Former superintendent Maggie Fehrman said at the Feb. 21 school board meeting that to make sure the homes could become multifamily homes, CSD would need to apply for permits with the city.
“That doesn’t mean this is going to happen overnight. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to figure out timing, how this is going to work,” Fehrman said. “CSD is not going to get into the business of being property managers or overseeing rental properties, but we do want to have and contribute to the opportunity to create middle housing for the city of Decatur with these two properties.”
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