Several Atlanta school district parent groups are turning up the pressure on city leaders to resolve a multi-million dollar dispute with Atlanta Public Schools over the Beltline.
In a joint letter sent to the Atlanta City Council this week, eight parent groups from throughout the city called on councilmembers to sign a pledge to pay the district what it's owed, a figure the parents put at more than $8 million.
What’s more, the parent groups are asking councilmembers to call on Mayor Kasim Reed to settle the debt. Reed took the helm of heated negotiations with APS over the Beltline debt earlier this year, talks that have at times been testy and vitriolic.
The exact amount the city owes the school district is in dispute. But what’s clear is that the Beltline is currently behind on a $6.75 million payment that was due last January, and is set to owe an additional $6.75 million next month. The parents contend the city should also pay interest and attorneys fees associated with the debt.
“We just want the city to make good on their promise,” said Shawnna Hayes-Tavares, president of Community Advocates for Special Education. “This is not just a business venture … This is about the children of Atlanta.”
Reed’s office said Thursday it had not yet received the letter.
Post 3 At Large Councilman Andre Dickens, who sits on the Invest Atlanta board that oversees the city’s tax allocation districts including the Beltline, said he plans to discuss the letter with his colleagues.
“I appreciate parents’ involvement and initiative to take their concerns to city leadership,” he said. “Anytime we can hear from citizens and parents, we take it seriously.”
School and city leaders have been at odds since early 2013 over an old agreement that created the Beltline tax allocation district, or TAD, which helps fund the greenspace project. Though the Beltline is operated by the nonprofit Atlanta Beltline Inc., the city manages the Beltline TAD.
The city agreed to make $162 million in fixed payments from the Beltline TAD to the school district in exchange for using a portion of property tax revenue for Beltline development.
City and Beltline leaders have said the recession devastated the Beltline’s funding model and it now can’t make the payments without effectively halting the project. In their view, the sooner the Beltline’s 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit comes to life, the better it is for communities and schools.
School leaders say the district, which relied heavily on its savings to fund its current budget, needs the money for district operations and board priorities such as early childhood education. In letters between the city and APS in October, school leaders dispute that paying the district would cripple the Beltline’s development plans.
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