In court filings against the city of Atlanta, Atlanta Public Schools seeks to make sure its boundaries expand alongside the city’s growing borders.
The Fulton County Superior Court civil action, filed by APS on July 10, relates to a piece of property in the Fulton Industrial District that the city council voted in December to annex.
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The property is located in an unincorporated part of Fulton County. The city ordinance to annex the area states that “it is the expressed intent of the city council that the property shall remain within the boundaries of the Fulton County School District for this annexation.”
The APS filings state that the “property currently is not taxable and no families reside” there but noted that “the property’s status may change in the future.”
APS officials have argued repeatedly that the school district's boundaries should expand alongside the city's. The APS charter calls for the school district's boundaries to remain "coterminous" with Atlanta's boundaries, meaning they are the same.
The school district’s civil action, which names the city, mayor and council members as respondents, requests that the court issue a declaratory judgement expanding APS’ boundaries to include the property.
A spokesman for the mayor did not immediately provide a comment about the civil action.
In a separate court battle, APS and DeKalb County School District are battling over another annexation. In that matter, the city of Atlanta annexed Emory University and Centers for Disease Control property. The city's ordinance called for Atlanta schools to expand to include that area. DeKalb officials are contesting that change, which would mean the loss of about $2 million in tax revenue to APS.
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