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COMMUNITY
Gardener rescues native plants
BY TOM ODER
Before construction of the controver
sial Brook Run trail cranked up, Dun-
woody gardener Bonnie Barton orga
nized efforts to rescue wildflowers and
other native plants from the path of the
multi-use trail.
One recent Saturday, Barton pulled
a wheelbarrow loaded with boxes and
a shovel through the forest behind the
Brook Run dog park. She stopped at
various places to dig up clumps of gin
ger, crane-fly orchids, Christmas fern,
beech trees and snake root.
“Look at this beautiful dirt with these
beautiful worms!” Barton exclaimed as
she slid a shovel through the leaf litter
and into the soft, humus-rich earth of
the forest floor.
By her count, the Dunwoody Gar
den Club member estimates she dug up
a thousand plants that grew in the path
of the trail. The plants will be replanted
in areas of the park away from the con
struction work, she said.
She secured permission from city of
ficials to “rescue” the native plants. City
Parks and Recreation Director Brent
Walker gave the OK to remove and relo
cate them, she said.
Walker recommended the plants be
relocated to an area beside the Commu
nity Garden as a place where the plants
could be re-located and remain undis
turbed, Barton said.
TOM ODER
Bonnie Barton digs up a clump of
native orchids in Brook Run Park.
The plants are in the path of the
multi-use trail the city is building.
“Digging was one thing, but hauling
plants out was the hardest job,” Barton
said.
Board actions frustrate parents
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The accrediting agency AdvancED
placed the DeKalb system on accreditation
probation last year because of actions by the
board. That has convinced some parents that
the board needs to be replaced.
“I think that if we do not change the
current board, were going to lose ac
creditation down the line,” Smith said.
Parents said they still feel their chil
drens’ schools are doing a fine job. But
they worry that things could change.
Some said they’ve heard neighbors
talk recently about pulling their children
from public schools and sending them
to private schools. Parents have orga
nized campaigns writing letters to Gov.
Nathan Deal asking for state action.
Some worry that businesses or new resi
dents will choose to locate elsewhere be
cause of the DeKalb schools’ problems.
And some Dunwoody officials
want their own, separately accreditated
schools.
“People are not considering public
schools as a viable option right now,”
said Kim Gokce, president of the Cross
Keys Foundation, which supports Cross
Keys High School in Brookhaven.
“It’s being overshadowed by gov
ernance problems. That’s the ultimate
crime, in my opinion, that’s going on
right now.”
In recent weeks, the board has tak-
DUN
en several actions that have stirred new
complaints from parents that board
members are not deailing properly with
the threat of probation.
The board replaced the school super
intendent. After board members could
not elect a new chairman, the board’s
sitting chairman resigned the post. The
board took state officials to court.
“I certainly don’t want us to be on
probation, but we re on probation for a
reason,” Gokce said.
“Winning the probation fight is not
a priority for me. Addressing the funda
mental reasons for probation is a prior
ity for me. ...I’m concerned that they’re
focused on winning the fight.”
The board’s legal challenge to a pro
cess allowing state officials to remove
DeKalb board members especially an
gered some parents.
Stacey Harris, who has two children
in Austin Elementary, said the action was
a waste of money. “They’re taking away
money from my children,” she said.
Shari Wassell, co-president of the
Dunwoody Elementary PTO, said many
of her neighbors were drawn to the com
munity by the quality of the schools.
They still support their neighborhood
schools, she said, but they’re more and
more dismayed by actions at the top.
“It’s really frustrating,” she said. “I
think people are just tired of it.”
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