If the Decatur City Schools district buys the Talley Street land under contract, it would be the system’s first major land purchase since acquiring the Renfroe Middle School property in the early 1970s. Although the four acres only has room for one school, Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said she envisions a combo project for the site.
“My original thought has been a k-3 on one side and a 4/5 (Academy) on the other with some kind of common area in between,” Edwards said. “I think it would have to open by 2018-19.”
Edwards said the eventual configuration, however, will be determined by the board and her successor, who may be named by as early as September. She also doesn’t believe a new Talley Street school would “satisfy the entire 4/5 demand,” and that at some point the board will have to decide whether to turn the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center back into an elementary.
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