Avondale Estates resident Paul Brown recently proposed to city commissioners they authorize a $5,000 donation to Avondale Elementary, the only school inside city limits. The money, Brown said, would fund the school’s recently created after-school program, including equipment and compensation for teachers staffing the program.
“I feel like we’ve abandoned this school the last few years,” Brown said. “I don’t see this as charity, I see it as a token investment by the city to invest in its future.”
Commissioners Lindsay Forlines and John Quinn were intrigued with the proposal, Forlines suggesting that Brown return with a school representative to present a formal budget. But Commissioners Randy Beebe and Terry Giager were against the city spending taxpayer money on the school, which has 470 students, grades pre-K through five, but only 14 (according to Brown) living within the city. Five of six residents speaking during public comment emphatically opposed Brown.
Brown, however, plans to take Forlines’ advice and return with the school’s first-year principal Dontae Andrews for a future commission work session.
“It benefits our city in a lot of ways to improve that school,” said Brown, who ran for mayor last spring and lost. “That means supporting it, not only financially, but also folks in the community working one on one with the kids.”
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