There’s no easy solution concerning district students living in Gateway Manor, the public housing community scheduled for redevelopment next year, said Decatur school board chairman Bernadette Seals.
Early figures show that 29 Gateway children will be temporarily relocated outside city limits — as early as January— during the 12-to-18-months renovation.
Decatur Housing Authority Executive Director Douglas Faust has asked the board to allow these students to remain in Decatur’s system during relocation. Seals said the school system’s “been advised legally that it’s not in the best interests” of the school system to let children officially outside the district, regardless of circumstance, to continue attending city schools.
“We don’t want to kick anyone out,” she said, “but we don’t want to put ourselves in a legal bind.”
The board, which tabled the issue last week, is scheduled to vote on Faust’s request Dec. 9.
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