The Atlanta Board of Education has approved the $854 million general fund budget for Atlanta Public Schools (APS) 2019-2020 school year. Highlights of the budget include $12 million for salary increases for all employees, $281 million to increase equity throughout the system through developing school budgets using the Student Success Funding (SSF) formula, which bases school funding on student attributes such as poverty, English language learners and remedial education programs.

The Atlanta City Council approved legislation authorizing an amendment the Fiscal Year 2019 budget by transferring development impact fee funds to fund the Cycle Atlanta 1.0 Project. The project aims to connect bicycle facilities to existing transit facilities, improving mobility between transportation modes at several locations, including Courtland Street, Washington Street, Gilmer Street, Peachtree Street/Ralph McGill Boulevard, Porter Place, Walton Street and Brady Avenue.

MomoCon 2019, the four-day anime, gaming, and cosplay convention held in Atlanta Memorial Day Weekend, raised almost $22,000 for two charities, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia. This year’s MomoCon was the most attended in the show’s history, with more than 39,000 gamers, animation fans, and cosplayers filling the Georgia World Congress Center.

Collin Kelley

Collin Kelley has been the editor of Atlanta Intown for two decades and has been a journalist and freelance writer for 35 years. He’s also an award-winning poet and novelist.