City Schools Decatur is considering leasing the East Lake Elementary to temporarily house its overflow of students, probably those at Oakhurst Elementary and the 4/5 Academy at Fifth Avenue. Though owned by Atlanta Public Schools, the East Lake building is roughly a quarter mile from the 4/5 Academy.
A lease agreement requires approval from both the APS and CSD boards. Outgoing Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said Thursday that ideally CSD would begin moving students into East Lake in August.
CSD’s $75 million bond passed earlier this week and initial plans call for using part of those funds to build a new elementary school and 4/5 Academy.
Oakhurst already has 468 students with 475 considered “crowded capacity,” while the Academy has 767, with crowded capacity set at 783. Edwards believes the East Lake building, which holds about 500, would be needed for at most three years, or until the new schools are built.
After closing in 2012 East Lake briefly housed Coan Middle School.
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