Some of you I know read ajc.com, but in case you missed it, there was a surprise at the Decatur School Board meeting on Thursday night, which was the appointed night for the final decision on the reconfiguring of the district:
Here's the entire story:
Board shakes up Decatur school plan
Karen Hill - Staff
Friday, February 13, 2004
The Decatur school board made several surprise moves Thursday night in a meeting about the future of its elementary schools.
It voted to close one school that school Superintendent Phyllis Edwards had not recommended, kept open another that had been on the chopping block and picked a different one than suggested to house fourth- and fifth-graders from throughout the city.
The board voted to close Westchester Elementary, rather than Clairemont Elementary. It also voted to close College Heights Elementary, but that decision had been recommended in a strategic plan unveiled last month by the superintendent.
The board also voted to turn Glennwood Elementary, near the city's core, into a school for fourth- and fifth-graders from throughout the city. Edwards had recommended using Oakhurst Elementary, on the southwest side of town, for fourth- and fifth-graders.
Decatur's 2,564-student system is being squeezed by rising costs and gradually declining enrollment. The four-square-mile city now has six tiny elementary schools, ranging in size from 165 to 235 students, each the decades-old centerpiece of a neighborhood. The school system also operates one middle school and one high school.
Thursday's vote was the last --- and most controversial --- part of a strategic plan unveiled by Edwards last month to guide the school system through the next 3-5 years.
Board members said Westchester Elementary, which fronts busy Scott Boulevard, seemed a better location for administrative offices than Clairemont Elementary, on a quiet residential street.
Edwards also cited an intangible reason to keep Clairemont open. "It had more to do with neighborhoods and how the city perceives itself, with children walking to school," she said, saying that 120 children walked to Clairemont compared with 41 at Westchester.
Some Westchester parents left the meeting in tears, saying they felt blindsided.
"We're shocked, stunned," said parent Nora Levesque.
"My whole way of thinking has changed because of this --- well, almost," said Westchester parent Connie Raines. "We didn't know about it."
As you may also know, Cheryl Keubler is retiring this year, and it does make sense to use Westchester for the admin offices, given its location, so the board took the path of least resistance. This appeared in front of Westchester yesterday:
Since I know that you all are grievously worried about what I'm doing about a cell phone, let me tell you now that yesterday I went to the local Sprint store and purchased a Treo 300. This is as you know not the top of the line one that Toey has, but they were out of those and the prospects for a resupply were grim -- sometime in mid-March. So I looked over the alternatives and the 300 seemed to do the trick. And for those worried about my propensity for losing or breaking these things, I did buy the replacement insurance.
