Gwinnett County school board members temporarily delayed a plan Thursday to close a school for special-needs students and sell it to the city of Sugar Hill.
School district officials proposed selling the six acres where the Buice School sits to the city of Sugar Hill, which is the early stages of a downtown development plan, for $2.5 million. Buice serves preschool and pre-kindergarten children.
Some Buice parents worry their children won’t improve the same way in other schools. Gwinnett officials say the children will get a quality education, noting they already teach special-needs students in other schools. Buice parents, though, complained they had little time to prepare for the change, an argument that persuaded school board members to delay the vote.
Board member Dan Seckinger mentioned the lack of information parents previously received about the plans before making a motion to delay a vote. He also said the school district would have a meeting with parents within the next month about the plans, which drew applause from parents.
“I feel cautiously optimistic that they heard our concerns and they’ve promised to give us a better explanation and understanding of what’s happening,” said parent Maggie Wright.
Parents said they hope the district keeps the school open, at least until the students currently enrolled there leave the school.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out. I pray we can postpone (closing) another year or two,” said parent Shalonda Burks.
Gwinnett officials said the main reason for their plans is to create continuity for the students once they enter an elementary school, as opposed to being in a stand-alone program or school. Buice is the district’s only stand-alone pre-K program. Gwinnett moved special-needs pre-K students from the Monarch School at the end of the 2013-14 school year.
The board did vote Thursday to sell the Hooper Renwick School, another school for special-needs students, in Lawrenceville to that city for $4.1 million. Gwinnett will buy some land from Lawrenceville for about $1 million. The Hooper Renwick program will move to another county-owned facility in Suwanee, district officials said.
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