Bulletin Board

The BOE meeting recap newsletter is shared after each regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The June Board of Education meeting was held on June 11, 2024.

Meeting Agendas:

Pre-Work Session

Work Session

Board Meeting

The recording, which includes the pre-work session, work session, regular meeting, and public comment, is available here.

Mr. James Herndon, Chair

Dr. Carmen Sulton, Vice Chair

Mrs. Jana Johnson-Davis, Board Member

Mr. Hans Utz, Board Member

Ms. Tracey Anderson, Board Member

On behalf of the Board of Education, I want to thank the community for continuing to be ALL IN for CSD students and staff. I hope our students and teachers are enjoying a safe summer break.

We are always excited to recognize our students. However, this time of year, we are especially pleased to celebrate the academic milestones of our rising 9th graders and the DHS Class of 2024! Congratulations! We look forward to great things from all of you.

I also want to congratulate Board Member Jana Johnson-Davis on receiving a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Florida A&M University. FAMU Distinguished Alumni honorees represent success in business, education, healthcare, public service, and community service. They are also commended for their selfless contributions to the University, the alumni community, and students. The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest award from FAMU’s National Alumni Association. Congratulations, Board Member Johnson-Davis!

As we join the administration in recognizing all of the June celebrations, I want to add we celebrate our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth. Officially named Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19th commemorates the emancipation of Black Americans in the U.S. Since Juneteenth is a public holiday, all schools and district offices will be closed.

Following the executive session, we began tonight’s board meeting with pre-work, reflecting on the Georgia School Board Association Conference we all attended last week and reviewing the Board Action Plan for the 2024-25 school year.

During the work session, there were three presentations. The board received an update on Athletics and Activities and a monthly HR retention and staffing report. Additionally, we want to thank Dory Cooper for providing us with an overview of CSD’s partnership with the Wylde Center. We also had some preliminary discussions about a cell policy and approved the policy on Student Demonstrations and Strikes for the first reading. All of the presentations are available on Simbli in our ongoing commitment to increasing the transparency of organizational operations.

Following my comments, the board will take action on several consent items. But first, let’s take a moment to pause for a video to reflect on the 2023-24 school year and Dr. Whitaker’s first year as superintendent of the City Schools of Decatur.

Since our May Board meeting, we have had many reasons to celebrate! We celebrated the end of the 2023-24 school year and our students' transitions across the district to their following grade levels. We were incredibly proud to honor the achievements of our 8th-grade students during the Beacon Hill Capstone Ceremony as they completed this milestone in their academic journeys, transitioning from middle school to high school. Families joined the staff in applauding their accomplishments as hand-painted flags were hung around the gym, symbolizing their middle school experiences. We look forward to their progress and continued success over the next four years.

And, of course, the year's culminating event was celebrating our Decatur High School Class of 2024 as they took their first steps into their postsecondary futures. Board members, you and I shook the hands of over 400 graduating seniors, cheering alongside their family members, school staff, District administrators, and fellow graduates.

As I said in my commencement remarks, May 22 was a great day in the City of Decatur! In addition to my immense pride for our graduates, this class will forever hold a special significance for me as my first graduating class as a superintendent. We continue to celebrate the many accomplishments of the distinguished Class of 2024 and wish them well in their continued pursuits of excellence.

We are also excited to share that we kicked off the month of June with our District Teacher of the Year, Alicia Reno, being named the first Runner-Up for the 2025 Georgia Teacher of the Year! State Superintendent Richard Woods announced her selection at a banquet on June 3 in LaGrange, Georgia, to celebrate all district teachers of the year.

In addition to her family, Alicia’s entourage included me, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Jennifer Burton, and her very proud school principal from Talley Street, Billy Heaton. We are so excited for Ms. Reno. Again, we congratulate her on this amazing honor. A formal district celebration will be held at the beginning of the school year. In the meantime, we continue to appreciate Alicia Reno’s commitment to bringing out the best in our students and the example she sets for teachers across CSD - and now the entire state!

In June, we join the national celebration of the diverse cultures, achievements, and historical contributions of people of Caribbean American heritage. As we strive to be a school district that cultivates inclusive environments for every student, we also celebrate Pride Month and the advocacy and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.

Additionally, June is National Safety Month. At the May meeting, the board heard presentations about new safety tools the administration plans to implement districtwide next school year around cybersecurity and crisis communications. Proactively ensuring safe learning environments for our students and staff remains our top priority. We also await the safety audit as we plan for next school year.

At the end of last year, we announced that beginning in the 2024-25 school year, we will offer Honors courses in English language arts and math in sixth through 10th grades. Not only do Honors courses meet the new Gifted Service Models required by the state, but offering advanced coursework early in a student's academic journey provides a runway for success in AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment courses. Seventy-one percent of students have registered for at least one honors course.

Looking more closely at enrollment by race, all subgroups proportionately enrolled in Honors courses except for black students. Depending on the grade level, 30-50% of black students enrolled in an Honors course. While this is not where we want to be, the Teaching and Learning team has identified high-achieving black students who did not register for Honors courses. Schools are reaching out to the families and personally encouraging students to enroll. In addition, we will spotlight student success to continue to attract more of our black students.

I will close with an update that Summer School began on May 29, is going well, and will end on June 18.

Chair Herndon, that completes my report.

The board unanimously approved the authorizing resolution to refund the 2014 Certificates of Participation.

Doug Gebhardt, first vice president of Davenport & Company LLC, presented information to the board regarding refinancing debt.

In 2014, the School District issued approximately $18.1 million of debt for various school projects, with a call (redemption) date of May 1, 2024, meaning the debt could only be paid off after that date.

Now that we are past the call date, the $14.6 million still outstanding is eligible to be refinanced for debt service savings. Davenport & Company LLC, in their capacity as the district’s financial advisor, reviewed the obligation and its producing net budgetary savings in today’s market environment.

It is being proposed that the school district refinance the existing debt utilizing a matched maturity structure or taking level savings across each fiscal year and not extending the final maturity. Typically, approximately 3.00% Net Present Value Savings is the threshold refinancing transactions try to achieve—this would result in roughly $600,000 in savings, net of fees, or approximately $30,000 annually.

The bonds should be issued through the City of Decatur Public Facilities Authority, which an intergovernmental agreement between the School District and the Public Facilities Authority will secure. Due to market conditions, a public market sale is recommended instead of negotiating directly with banks via a bank loan.

The school board must approve this authorizing resolution to refinance the bond. This will allow staff and the school district’s bond professionals to begin the prerequisite work necessary for the refinancing.

If authorized and market conditions are favorable, this action will be brought to the August board meeting to approve the final sale results. At that point, the savings will be locked in, and interest rates fixed. Closing would occur approximately a month later, in September.

The full presentation from Davenport & Company can be viewed in the board agenda here.

The school board unanimously approved the revised FY25 General Fund Budget.

Due to the DeKalb County tax digest's historical growth trend, the FY25 general fund budget was built based on a projected 8% growth. The board was aware that the 8% tax digest was a projection and that a lower tax digest would reduce revenue collections, and a higher tax digest would increase revenue collections. The county issued the preliminary tax digest on May 24, 2024, and the actual tax digest growth, after exemptions, is 4.71%, significantly lower than the projected 8% growth.

The revised FY25 general fund budget reflects a reduction of $2,678,029 in local property tax revenue and $672,225 in expenditures for administrative salary increases for principals, assistant principals, and cabinet positions. The FY24 projected end-of-year fund balance is approximately $17,000,000. The projected end-of-year fund balance percentage would be 17.45, above the specified board policy DCL of 15%. Therefore, the revised FY25 general fund budget will reflect a total deduction of $2,803,388 from the fund balance. The FY25 ending fund balance percentage is within the board policy requirement of 4% to 15%.

Dr. Broome’s presentation is linked in the meeting agenda here and can be heard in the meeting recording starting at 2:08:18.

The Board unanimously approved the following consent items:

• April Financial Report School Nutrition Fund

• May Personnel Report

• April Financial Reports

The Board unanimously approved authorizing the Superintendent to engage in a sole-source contract with the University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education. This collaboration aims to work with district and school teams to foster conditions for change, redesign systems, address inequities, and achieve sustained improvements in student learning.

Upcoming Meetings:

Virtual Millage Rate Hearing https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/95614159391

• Thursday, June 20 at 4:30 pm

Virtual Called Board Meeting https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/95614159391

• Thursday, June 20 at 5:00 pm

Next Regular Board Meeting: The next Regular Board Meeting will be held, if necessary, on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. The August Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

Link to Join Board Meeting Virtually: https://csdecatur.zoom.us/j/95614159391

Board Agenda(s): Go to Simbli to access the CSD Board of Education meeting agenda(s), supporting documents, and meeting minutes.

Public Comments: Click here for information on signing up to speak at a CSD Board meeting.

Contacting Board Members: Email the entire Board at board@csdecatur.net. Click here to view board member bios and contact information.

The board values hearing from members of our community. Each school Board member reviews and reads all emails sent by our stakeholders.

Georgia Law governs School Boards, and they cannot intervene in the day-to-day administrative operations of the school district, including direct staff and personnel matters. If you write to us with a concern about district operations, your message will be forwarded to the school or district administrator, who can best address your concern.

The Board has also adopted a set of norms that govern our local communication protocols. These include:

1. Emails to individual Board members are shared with the entire Board.
2. Issues and concerns received by the Board and or individual members will be referred to the Superintendent.
3. Board members will follow the chain of command, educating, instructing, and encouraging others to do the same.
4. The Board Chair will reply to emails from constituents sent to all board members. That reply will include the Superintendent and other Board members on the thread and inform the constituent that the Superintendent or their designee will respond to the inquiry/request.
5. Direct all stakeholders’ questions, input, or discussion to the superintendent, who will communicate them as needed to the Board.

Email: board@csdecatur.net
Website: csdecatur.net
Location: 125 Electric Avenue, Decatur, GA, USA
Phone: (404) 371-3601