Atlanta Magazine has named its annual “Top All Around” high schools and Alpharetta High School and Milton High School both made the list. The top 16 list only included 7 public schools and all four of the Fulton County recipients were located in North Fulton. Northview High School in Johns Creek and North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs were the other Fulton County schools to make the top sixteen.
You can read more here.
Thursday I wrote about the next step the city of Alpharetta is taking to transform itself into an urbanized concrete jungle similar to the Perimeter Center in Sandy Springs. You can read that post here.
As I predicted the Alpharetta Planning Commission unanimously approved the high density development that directly conflicts with the comprehensive land use plan. Since the city of Alpharetta typically ignores the land use plan the action comes as no surprise but it is disappointing nonetheless. The MetLife project is now scheduled to go before the Alpharetta City Council for final approval on Monday, January 24th.
I will write more about the details of this mega-project later but for now I would like to point out what disappoints me most about Thursday’s decision: Not one person on the planning commission stood up to defend Alpharetta from this continued urbanization. Not one? Not one single person on the planning commission stood up to represent the Alpharetta residents that want this urbanization moderated if not completely stopped. That is sad.
But I don’t blame the planning commissioners. They are simply doing what they think is best. I happen to know several of them and while they rarely represent my family’s best interests, there is nothing wrong with good people disagreeing.
The real problem is that not one city councilperson has nominated a commissioner that represents my family’s best interests. Not one city council member nominated a planning commissioner that would vote against a project that adds 500 condos to the Milton High School district and puts 12,000 more cars on the road between downtown Alpharetta and GA 400. Not one. So let’s be clear, the urbanization of Alpharetta continues because not even one city council member wants it to stop.
Soon the campaigns for Alpharetta’s new mayor along with several city council seats will begin. If you are unhappy with what is going on I suggest you pay close attention.
In the meantime you should call city hall and let them know what you think: 678 297-6000
Here we go again. School redistricting in North Fulton county has been an ongoing game of musical chairs for the past decade and the next round is about to begin.
One of the down sides to living in an area perfect for raising children is that the board of education has had a hard time accomodating the influx of families relocating here because of the great schools. The latest effort to make room for our new neighbors is the high school being built at the corner of Bethany Bend and Cogburn Roads in the city of Milton. The school is expected to open in 2012 and will be the fourth new high school to open around here since 2002.
The new school will draw most of its students from the Milton and Alpharetta High School districts but the changes will undoubtedly impact the other high schools in the area. The Fulton County Board of Education knows this and will try to address everybody’s concerns but it just isn’t possible to satisfy everyone. Some families on the borders of attendance zones have been rezoned numerous times over the years and may not want to be moved again while other families will be disappointed that they aren’t rezoned to a school they would prefer. History shows that the process can get testy at times but one way to avoid conflicts is to address concerns early through participation in the public forums which will be held.
That is why the public forums for the new school redistricting will begin in a couple of months. The first such meeting will be held at Alpharetta High School on February 23, 2011. That is nearly a year and a half before the new school opens and should give everyone involved more than enough time to hammer out an acceptable agreement.
If you have children in any of the public schools in North Fulton County I urge you to get involved early. Even with a year and a half to prepare there will be people that don’t get involved until they are upset by the board’s decision and by then it is too late. You can get the latest information at the board of education’s website dedicated to this process.
For those of you that are interested in this topic you can find more on the subject at these other local blogs: newmiltonhighschool and rootsinalpharetta
GA Jim 