Board Votes To Close, Consolidate Several Atlanta Schools

ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Board of Education voted 7-2 to approve controversial changes to area schools, including consolidations and closures, at a contentious meeting Monday night attended by frustrated parents.

Under the plan, several schools will close, including Adamsville Primary and Whitefoord Elementary next year, and Fain and Towns elementaries the year after that.

Students from Adamsville will attend Miles Intermediate and Whitefoord ES students will be split between Toomer Elementary and Burgess-Peterson Academy. Fain and Towns students will go to a new elementary school housed in Harper-Archer Middle, which will be phased out beginning in 2017.

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen defended the changes, saying that the affected schools had low enrollment and students that weren't in step academically with much of the district and that the realignments would save teachers from burnout and improve test scores. She said the transition plan was "academically based and child-focused."

When addressing the closure of Adamsville, Carstarphen said: "The three things that our data was showing in preparation for the merger fell into four buckets: One was on literacy, which included reading; one was on writing across all curriculums; one was on data and technology planning so that we could eliminate the digital divide because poor families don't have access like others, and the fourth was extracurricular support."

As she spoke she was interrupted several times by sporadic outbursts from irate parents.

Before the meeting, a group of parents camped out overnight in front of the APS building on Trinity Avenue in downtown Atlanta. Many wore shirts emboldened with the words "Save Our Schools."

"These are complicated issues and difficult decisions, but that is what leadership is all about,” said Atlanta Board of Education Chair Courtney D. English. “The Board deeply appreciates the input by parents, teachers and neighborhood leaders throughout the city. Not everyone will be happy, but I believe our kids will benefit, receive a better education, and be better prepared for college and career.”

The school board changes include changes to three groups of schools, called Clusters. Here are the full realignments, according to a school board news release:

· Jackson Cluster: Whitefoord Elementary School will close, sending its students to Toomer Elementary and Burgess-Peterson Academy. A portion of Parkside Elementary School students will be redistricted and go to Benteen Elementary School.

· Mays Cluster: Adamsville Primary will close and Miles Intermediate will be restructured as a pre-K school. Students from those schools will transition to West Manor Elementary.

· Douglass Cluster: The Benjamin S. Carson Educational Complex's (BEST) Business, Engineering, Science and Technology Academy will be moved to the Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy. The academy will serve two 6-12 single-gender academies on campus.

Turn Harper-Archer Middle School into a seventh- and eighth-grade school only.

Create a new middle school at the BEST facility, which serves only sixth-graders and phase in other grades until it becomes a sixth-eighth grade school for the Douglass Cluster.

Close Fain Elementary School and Towns Elementary School and open a new elementary school at the renovated Harper-Archer.

Launch a new pre-K through eighth-grade school at Woodson Park Academy, operated by KIPP.

Close the Woodson Park building and open a new site in the former Woodson Primary campus, which will include a YMCA, an health clinic, a new school building and a health clinic.

Under the plan, West End Academy would also be relocated to Crim Open Campus High School.

All of the changes would be for the 2017-2018 school year, the district said. More realignments would take place over the next five years.

Image via Craig Johnson / Patch