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Officials lay plans for school redistricting District seeks input on attendance zones across North Fulton
Sales tax receipts remain healthy through August
By CANDY WAYLOCK candy@appenmedia.com
By DAVE WILLIAMS Capitol Beat
ATLANTA — The redistricting process impacting the entire North Fulton region is underway with Fulton County School officials advising parents to be involved and aware of changes to their student’s assigned schools next August. “This is a community process,” said Yngrid Huff, executive director of operational planning for Fulton County Schools. “Rest assured this process is transparent and there is access to all the information and data that we have available.” She noted the district has opened 40 new schools over the past 22 years, with the majority in North Fulton, to address the capacity needs of the growing district. That trend is now reversing as enrollment declines, leaving some schools still crowded and others with many more seats than students. While periodic redistricting was a familiar process for parents during the enrollment boom, most current parents have never been involved. The last significant redistricting in the North Fulton region was in 2011 with the opening of Cambridge High School in 2012. In North Fulton, the current redistricting will focus primarily on enrollment imbalances in elementary schools. However, any adjustments to elementary
ATLANTA — Georgia’s new fiscal year is off to a healthy start after the first two months. The state Department of Revenue collected almost $2.31 billion in taxes in August, an increase of $180.4 million – or 8.5 percent – over the same month a year ago. State tax receipts during the first two months of fiscal 2023 were up 5.5 percent over July and August of last year. Individual income tax revenues rose by 19.5 percent last month compared to August 2021, resulting from the combination of a large increase in tax payments and a decline in refunds issued by the revenue agency. Net sales taxes were up 11.1 percent. Corporate income tax collections for August rose exponentially to $62.3 million compared to just $2.1 million during the same month a year ago. Corporate tax payments for the month rose 68.8 percent, while refunds issued dropped 87.4 percent. Tax receipts from gasoline and other motor fuels were off 99.6 percent in August, as the state continued
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In North Fulton, the current redistricting will focus primarily on enrollment imbalances in elementary schools. However, changes to elementary zones will likely require tweaks to feeder patterns at other schools like Johns Creek High School. zones will likely require tweaks to current feeder patterns at middle and high schools. The district will also revise the attendance zone for the replacement Crabapple Middle School which opened last year off Woodstock Road in Roswell. Despite the relocation of the school from its original site a few miles away, attendance lines were not adjusted. District officials will spend the next two months gathering information from the community as they develop the new enrollment zones. The Fulton County Board of Education will vote on the maps in December, with the new zones in place next August.
Criteria for redistricting Huff said Fulton County Schools has used a process for redistricting since the year 2000 with established criteria for decision-making. Prior to that time, new school zones were created by parent groups. “So [our current process] is tried and true and it has worked,” Huff said during a recent virtual community meeting on redistricting. “It has become a national example for revising [zones] based on data and logistics.” The three primary criteria for attendance zones are geographic proximity,
Student Leadership Johns Creek plans candidate forum
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