APS Redistricting: Davis Comments on Springdale Park Expansion

Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Erroll B. Davis, Jr. discussed on Monday the possibility of expanding .

, Davis said the district is studying the traffic patterns in the area and the logistics of building an expansion at the school.

He said there was money in the budget to build a gym at the school and suggestions include building classrooms above or below the gym facilities.

“I’m not sure I want to go to school in a gym,” Davis said. “There are certain aspects of being too close to a gym that I think are not really amenable to a good education environment, and that’s also only one aspect whether we can build there.”

Other issues include space in the cafeteria for more students (see more comments in the video attached).

Springdale Park Elementary, which houses students from Virginia-Highland, Poncey-Highland, Midtown and Druid Hills, has 544 students enrolled this year. Enrollment is expected to peak at 756 students in about seven years.

The school was originally built for 450 students, but administrators increased the capacity to 550 students by adding more students to each class.

Early redistricting proposals included combining the Springdale Park and Hope Hill Elementary School communities into a primary learning model to address capacity issues to Springdale Park. One campus would house kindergarten-through-second-grade and the other campus would house third-through-fifth-grade classes.

Parents were unhappy with the primary learning center model and .

The split primary model was taken off the table in the second round of maps released by the third-party demographers in late January.

But capacity issues at the school are still a concern in the community and parents continue to advocate for an expansion.

See more comments from Davis .

How do you think an expansion at Springdale Park would affect traffic in the neighborhood? Tell us in the comments!

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