New Milton Middle School or Additions?

Parents were asked Monday night if a new middle school should be built in Milton, or if existing schools should get additions to relieve overcrowding in the classrooms.

Building a new school would require massive redistricting and would provide more classrooms than needed, said Yngrid Huff, director of Operational Planning for Fulton County Schools. Building additions would still require some zone redistricting.

The Fulton County School Board this week conducted the first of two community forums to seek input on how to spend SPLOST IV money.

After gathering input at forums and online, the board will determine whether to use that money to build a new middle school on an existing Freemanville Road site in Milton, or to build additions to middle schools throughout North Fulton.

The first forum was held at  in Johns Creek on Monday evening. While that school is already slated to receive additions, parents gathered to give their input on how to further relieve overcrowding that exists in the North Fulton region.

Huff said the school population's expected growth as a result of new housing developments and Fulton Science Academy closing will add to already overcrowded middle schools.

The school board is now tasked with deciding how to spend some of the funds from the SPLOST IV sales tax, which was approved by voters in November. Huff outlined some pros and cons of building a new school versus building additions, all of which would take place in 2015.

She said that building a new school would take massive redistricting in North Fulton County, and that the school would actually add more classrooms than are projected to be needed. Meanwhile, building additions to existing schools would address overcrowding, though some zoning "tweaking" would still be necessary. 

After Huff's presentation, parents were divided into breakout sessions. In one such session, opinions seemed to differ along east and west lines. One parent in Milton in western North Fulton stated that a new middle school was needed in that large geographic area to relieve traffic congestion and to prevent the schools in that area from becoming too big. Another in Johns Creek to the east stated that building additions would be preferable to prevent massive rezoning and a shift in traffic patterns.

A second forum will be held at Elkins Pointe Middle School on Monday, March 26, at 7 p.m. Parents can also offer feedback online at www.fultonschools.org.

Click here for more information on projects the SPLOST IV sales tax is expected to fund.