DECATUR, Ga. — The City Schools of Decatur Board of Education will provide updates on its latest capital improvement plan and propose a new option for the district’s new Early Childhood Learning Center during the board’s work session on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
The meeting will begin with a pre-work session at 2:40 p.m., a work session at 3:40 p.m., and then the regular meeting starts at 5:25 p.m. Meeting times are adjusted each month according to the length of the agenda.
The Decatur School Board discussed the project during its June 10 work session, the last time the board held a regular meeting. A comprehensive capital improvement proposal listed the ECLC as “the first domino” of more projects to come, including a black box theater and auxiliary gym for Decatur High School.
After facing recommendations and public pushback on the ECLC project, the district is set to propose a second option to go along with the first, according to a presentation attached to the agenda item, which would add 6 percent to 8 percent more green space and a second story to the design.
The updated design option would add $8 million to the ECLC construction plan, increasing the total cost from $22 million to $30 million. It would also shift groundbreaking from December to April 2026 and move the opening back from fall 2027 to fall 2028.
A new design showing a second option of the Early Childhood Learning Center featuring a second story and more greenspace. The design will be presented at the August 12 meeting.
The new option follows Decatur’s Planning Commission voting for the project to be sent to the Decatur City Commission in June with five conditions, including conducting a traffic study, minimizing on-site parking, and complying with the special pedestrian and parking overlay district requirements.
According to City Schools of Decatur Chief Communications Officer Mikkal Hart Murunga, both of the district’s current early learning facilities, College Heights and Frasier Center, are full and have waitlists; a 115-child waitlist for College Heights and a 16-child waitlist for Frasier Center.
To read more about the ECLC’s initial plan proposal and the feedback received from the public, click here.
The meeting will be held at the Elizabeth Wilson School Support Center, located at 125 Electric Ave. in Decatur. To view the meeting’s agenda, click here. To view CSD’s meeting link, click here.
In other business, the board will:
— In the work session, review its 2025-2025 policy plan and discuss priorities for the upcoming school year.
— Consider approving a $310,753 fiscal 2026 license agreement with Renaissance Learning for core K-12 assessment, MTSS, data intelligence, ELA, phonics and math resources.
— Consider approving a year-two extension with 34ED, LLC, for the Centegix CrisisAlert, Visitor Management, and asset tracking system for $116,400.
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