More than 500 parents and community leaders gathered Wednesday night at Maynard Jackson High School in southeast Atlanta to cautiously listen to plans to rezone the schools in their neighborhoods. It was the third of a series of four meetings hosted by Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis to explain the redistricting program.
Davis has proposed closing 13 schools that are currently underenrolled. His recommendations would save the school system $6.5 million and eliminate 7,200 empty seats.
The school board will vote on Davis' plan April 10.
Wednesday's meeting focused only on schools that are zoned to feed into Jackson High School and Grady High School.
Many in attendance demonstrated the cluster route they desired by sporting bright green T-shirts that read "Mary Lin Elementary, Inman Middle & Grady High."
“What makes our good schools good is the level of parental engagement,” Davis said. “The feedback has been voluminous.”
Davis will hold a similar meeting Thursday night at Carver High School to discuss schools that feed into Carver and South Atlanta High School.
Among the school slated for closure is Coan Middle School, which was on the minds of the many people at Wednesday night's meeting who bore stickers reading "We are Coan." An online petition had already gathered 600 names by Monday night to support the school that is only about 30 percent full but adored by its neighborhood. Its supporters say the school is making steady improvements.
Davis again shot down assumptions that race and class weighed in on his decision-making.
“Most of our schools are in African-American neighborhoods, and if we close the schools that I recommend, most of our schools will still be in African-American neighborhoods,” Davis said. “Race is not a factor in this."
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