Update: Riverside Drive Site off the Table for New Heards Ferry Elementary

Patrick Burke, Deputy Superintendent of Operations for Fulton County Schools said the Riverside Drive site is no longer being considered as a new location for  Heards Ferry Elementary School.

Patch has learned that some Riley Place residents at risk for eminent domain were notified on Friday of the news.

Burke says that by voting for a SPLOST referendum in November 2011, Sandy Springs residents approved rebuilding Heards Ferry, which could include moving it to a new location. Residents say they thought the measure was only to rebuild the school at its current location, and many have protested.

During a Friday afternoon conference call, Burke said that moving forward the Fulton Board of Education intends to be transparent in its process.

The school board plans to renovate Riverwood International Charter School and move or rebuild Heards Ferry Elementary. Both schools share a 50-acre property.

Herb Carter, who has two properties that would have been affected the school being built on Riverside Drive, was notified in person by a Fulton Schools official, on the change in plans. The school board was interested in his Riverside Drive property, where his son lives, which backs up to the yard of his Riley Place residence, he said.

Carter is relieved but it doesn't mean the topic of moving Heards Ferry is resolved for other residents, he said.

“My issue was with it being relocated to my backyard,” Carter explained. “I imagine there is still an issue with the Heards Ferry [area] folks.”

See also:

• Mayor Would Side With Potentially Displaced Homeowners' in Fight for New School District

• Op-Ed Urges Fulton Schools to Utilize Residents' Expertise in Heards Ferry Elementary Decisions

• Residents Strongly Oppose Moving Heards Ferry Elementary at Meeting

• Mayor Wants to Hear Justification for Moving Heards Ferry Elementary

• (Video) Councilman Wants City in the Loop on Heards Ferry Elementary Decisions

• Homeowners Fight Eminent Domain That Would Make Way for New Heards Ferry Elementary