The Buckhead group said it plans to meet with APS after the November elections and they believe Buckhead kids would have the legal standing to remain at APS schools. And before you think about creating “Buckhead City Schools,” the Georgia constitution would prohibit that. It may be possible in the future for a “Buckhead City” and APS to negotiate a different agreement, but that has not been broached. There would be no guarantee of available seats at APS schools for residents of a proposed Buckhead city.” Specifically, they ”may be eligible to attend Atlanta Public Schools by paying non-resident tuition, subject to space availability at the desired school. On Thursday, Atlanta Public Schools released a statement to the AJC that the current policy for students who live outside the city of Atlanta would apply for potential “Buckhead City” students, too. On the Buckhead Committee website and in multiple public statements, including this week, White has said, “Buckhead City would continue to utilize, and fund through taxes and fees, the Atlanta Public Schools.”īut the Buckhead City Committee has never met with APS, and APS is under no obligation to commit to educate another city’s children. The schools could change: I’ve written this before, but it bears repeating: If Buckhead becomes its own city, the eight Atlanta Public Schools in Buckhead will still be owned and operated by the city of Atlanta. But we also have to deal with realities.” Willis said she, “doesn’t have a dog in that fight, whether it becomes a city or doesn’t become a city. We work cases everywhere from Milton to Palmetto. “It wouldn’t make any difference, none,” she said. I asked Fulton DA Fani Willis what would change if Buckhead becomes its own city. No matter where a felony is committed in Fulton County, the case goes immediately to the overwhelmed, under-resourced Fulton County District Attorney’s office for prosecution. That number would be a huge increase and could have an impact on arrests.īut arresting suspects is just the beginning of solving for crime. Crime is undoubtedly driving the push to create a new city and White has promised to put 250 well-paid police officers on the streets to patrol Buckhead.
Here are just a few of the inconvenient truths and unanswered questions of creating a new Buckhead City, as it stands today: Unlike creating a new city in the unincorporated area of a county (think Sandy Springs), carving Buckhead off of Atlanta could disrupt schools, cost hundreds of millions, and have no guarantee of reducing the crime that families all over Atlanta deserve to live without.
He now uses “Buckhead City” stationery so handsome, the new city seems as good as done.īut kick the tires and you’ll quickly see that cleaving Buckhead from Atlanta would be wildly complicated. He is so unfamiliar with the details of government and “how things are done here,” it almost seems more like an asset than a weakness. White, personally, is a package that’s easy to buy into. White’s pitch to Buckhead voters and the General Assembly, which needs to open the door to cityhood, is tantalizingly simple: Let Buckhead become its own city, and Buckhead will do the rest. “Yeah!” you can almost hear the golf shirts and loafers yelling from their Chevy Tahoes on Peachtree.
“The good people of Buckhead have been taken for granted and abused long enough!” White says frequently on Fox News.