rabbit penning a writeup of the meeting minutes, by the lake

LCN Meeting Notes – Sept

Posted on by Nancy

Guest Speakers (Atlanta Police and Representatives of City Council and State Legislature)

Lt Jones APD

  • Monthly crime trends
    • 5 arrests in zone 6 , one theft by receiving. 
    • Total incidents 12, decrease in theft from vehicle
  • Increase in vehicle thefts.
  • Generally good
  • Harold street incident (homeowner shot at when confronting someone breaking into vehicle late sun night)
    • Do not recommend intervene in vehicle break ins.  The perps tend to be heavily armed.  (Typical : “switch” Modified firearm that makes it automatic.)
    • Assigned to investigative unit
    • DON’T leave anything in vehicle
    • Are you still looking for Ring footage? Yes, from Sunday night. Looking for make/model of car.
  • APD Camera for our side streets? Waiting to hear back. Email if you have somewhere you think a camera should go.
    • Email Deanne, safety@lakeclaire.org, so she can coordinate.
  • Traffic stops
    • 25 citations on Clifton road corridor. 81 stops with 34 citations.

Lilianna’s office

  • A resolution executing a $755,000 project management agreement with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District for the Edgewood Avenue Safe Streets project (25-R-3815).
  • An ordinance providing a $50,000 donation to the nonprofit Neighbor in Need in support of emergency home repairs for legacy residents in the East Lake, Kirkwood and Edgewood communities (25-R-3844).
  • City Council appointed Carden Wyckoff to fill the vacant District 2 City Council seat created when Amir Farokhi stepped down in July. She has served as chairwoman for the City of Atlanta Accessibility and Inclusion Task Force and a member of the MARTA Riders Advisory Committee and MARTA Army Board of Directors. She will fill the remaining 104 days left in the term and will assume Farokhi’s positions on the Transportation and Zoning committees, and the Committee on Council.

As always, please reach out if we can be of assistance:

Stop sign at Clifton/Harriett . Doesn’t meet req so not approved.  They are working on alternates. (Chad Durham)

  • Atlanta follows the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) MUTCD when performing studies such as the one for Clifton and Harriett. Here’s a link to the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways).  https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/
  • Below is the some of the detail from the study that was sent to Patrick Husbands: 
  • After analysis those 2 locations do not meet MUTCD volume or crash warrants.  I incorporated pedestrian crossings in the volumes, but the pedestrian and vehicle volumes on Muriel and Harriet are way too low to meet the minimums.  Both locations had 3 crashes within the past 10 years, with only 1 each considered correctible by all-way stop.  Also, both intersections are only 1 block away from an all-way stop.  The Marlbrook all-way stop makes sense for pedestrians as it connects to Candler Park on the west end and Frazier Center on the east end.  If either of those are the destinations, pedestrians from Harriet or Muriel could travel south on Clifton to cross at the all-way stop at Marlbrook.  If the destination is the Freedom Park Trail they could travel north on Clifton to cross at the all-way stop at Clifton Terrace.
  • Idea: Perhaps we should move the bus stop.

LCN Officer Reports:

Nancy Dorsner, Communications

  • Halloween Parade – 10/25. Contact halloween@lakeclaire.org to volunteer and sponsor


Beth Grashof, Zoning
Pen Sherwood, Fundraising
Carol Holliday, Planning and NPU

  • Freedom park conservancy – Monday 9/29 – Convo on Spirit of Freedom Park at Carter center. Register at website. Tree Walk

Deanne Uroic, Safety
Melissa Pressman, Environment
Treasurer, Jay Severas

APS Updates

What You Can Do: show support for the plan that adds seats to Midtown

1. Email Tracey Richter with HPM (the consulting firm APS hired to do the facilities plan)

2. Email APS Facilities Planning team

Thoughts on messaging for the emails noted above:

  • The proposed plan to add 300 seats to Midtown adequately addresses enrollment in a well-thought out and practical manner
  • While it appears the enrollment numbers will balance out over the next 5 years, it is forward-thinking to explore creating space for 300 more students in a manner that does so with the least disruption for the most students in our cluster
  • Additionally, the ideas discussed in the 9/10 Community meeting (staggered bell schedule, block schedule, Magnet schools, creating choice high schools) are the type of solutions that need to be explored
  • Thank you for listening to the community and working towards a solution in the Midtown cluster that benefits all of the students. 

3. Take this survey showing your support for the proposal to add 300 seats to Midtown: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/APSScenariosSurvey

4. Join the APS Board At-large District 8 Meet the Candidates hosted by CPNO

Thursday, 9/25, @ 7pm via Zoom

5. Join the APS Community Zoom meetings next week

Wednesday, 9/24 @ 6:00 pm
Register for Zoom: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/MVUDZEoKTMGk12s-q-rBcA

Thursday, 9/25 @ 12:00 pm
Register for Zoom: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/zcw2twaNRbKFrgxWvkS0tQ

6. Stay engaged & informed! Reach out to the LCN Education Committee if you have any questions. You can email me and I’ll share your questions/comments with the Committee, aimeeb17@gmail.com

The Education Committee will continue to provide updates and ways to stay engaged as this process continues over the next few months. 

Background Information

APS Facilities Planning Website: https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/aps2040

  • There is a wealth of information on this site—recordings of previous meetings, Zoom registration for upcoming meetings, the current proposal, etc.
  • This website is updated routinely with information on newly scheduled meetings, so good to keep an eye on it.

CURRENT Proposed Plan: PDF attached. The proposal for Midtown is on slide 43.

  • This is current as of 9/19
  • It is anticipated that a revised proposal will be released the week of 9/22
  • Here is a good video that walks through each of the scenarios—as noted last night, this proposal addresses several under-enrolled schools, so it is not just focused on Midtown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbeFNRudaWw

9/10 Meeting Presentation: PDF attached

  • This was presented at a Community meeting held at Midtown High to address “over-utilized high schools”
  • Slide 2 addresses ways to alleviate overcrowding—including creative ideas like adjusting the school schedule and creating choice high schools. This shows you don’t always have to resort to construction or redistricting to address overcrowding.

What’s Next: This is somewhat fluid. APS has indicated additional meetings will be considered as needed.

  • APS announced 2 Community Outreach Meetings for 9/24 & 9/25 (Zoom meetings). It is anticipated they will share a revised proposal at that time.
  • The School Board will have a first read of the proposal in their November meeting
  • The School Board is likely to have a second reading and vote on the proposal in their December meeting
  • APS has indicated whatever changes are approved would be implemented in the 2027-28 school year.

More Historical Information

We believe the consultant’s original position that expanding Midtown’s capacity by 300 seats along with other potential programmatic solutions (e.g. a performing arts magnet) are sufficient to address long term capacity projections. We also think that APS and the consultants should spend more time addressing the significant impact of the facilities planning on the other clusters, all of whom are facing school closures or combinations.

The initial scenario proposed by APS & HPM (consultants hired by APS) to relieve capacity at Midtown High School is a physical expansion of 300 seats. This is good news for Mary Lin as it does not propose redistricting at all, a threat that has hung over our community for years. Unfortunately, there is a vocal contingency of Midtown Cluster parents in neighboring communities who are dissatisfied with the current scenario and clamored for redistricting. We know that some of you are new to the APS process and are probably asking yourselves, “Why do people want to kick Lin out of the cluster? We are so great!”

Every year APS does a facilities review and, for the last several years, a small but vocal group of parents have complained that Midtown High is overcrowded and pushed for redistricting. In the 2022 review, APS’ final scenario included moving kids who came from Centennial, a K- 8 school covering downtown, out of the Midtown Cluster to the Washington Cluster. Ultimately APS decided to implement a solution that did not involve redistricting. In December 2024, APS created a working document that redistricted Lake Claire to Jackson—just LC, not CP. However, this was just a working document and was not seen by the Board at that time. The current Long Term Comprehensive Facilities Review is the latest iteration of this process. The same group is pushing to redistrict and move kids out of Midtown.

Announcements and Current Issues:

Annual Re-affirmation of NPU-N Bylaws, Carol Holliday

Yearly city requirement to reaffirm that we believe in the npu system.

Motion that we reaffirm: 16 yes passed

Other Issues

Safety – Camera issue pass to Lake Claire.

– Those with concerns or information they wish to bring to the membership. Lake Claire Neighbors meets the third Thursday of each month.
The next regular meeting will be Oct. 16, 2025.
Stay informed! To receive occasional e-mails about happenings in, around and concerning Lake
Claire, as well as reminders of up-coming meetings, please sign up
at https://lakeclaire.org/resources/newscast-sign-up/