Atlanta school board to mull Morningside annex at Wednesday meeting

Atlanta Public Schools is searching for a site to serve as an annex to Morningside Elementary School in an effort to relieve overcrowding at the east-side school.

Atlanta Public Schools is searching for a site to serve as an annex to Morningside Elementary School in an effort to relieve overcrowding at the east-side school.

The Atlanta school board will consider two items related to its plan to create an kindergarten annex site for the overcrowded Morningside Elementary School.

The Atlanta Board of Education meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday for a special meeting to make up for previous sessions that were cancelled because of weather.

Board members are scheduled to vote on giving the superintendent the authority to execute a two-year lease agreement for “appropriate classroom space” to serve as a Morningside annex. The district did not provide a cost for that potential lease or identify the property owner or organization from whom the district would lease space.

In a related, matter, the board will consider asking the  Georgia Department of Education to waive the state’s standard classroom requirements for the annex site. District documents state that “some of the available spaces may not meet” those state standards, but the district said the space will satisfy all APS instructional and safety requirements.

The school board last year approved a change to attendance boundaries for Morningside Elementary School but said additional measures are needed to address the overcrowding at that school.