Consultant Thomas Sayre’s statistical projections before Decatur’s school board Wednesday indicate at least a new K-3 school and 4/5 academy will need building by 2020.

Sayre projects that by 2020 City Schools’ enrollment could swell to 8,145 — including students from proposed annexation properties — with the system currently having capacity for 3,859.

Annexation to Decatur’s north could potentially provide land for new schools.

“We don’t have land [within current city limits] to accommodate growth unless the city acquires [property surrounding existing schools] by eminent domain,” Superintendent Phyllis Edwards pointed out.

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Passengers wait at a Delta check-in counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. It was the first day the Federal Aviation Administration cut flight capacity at airports during the government shutdown. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com