About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2024)
SANDY SPRINGS For more Sandy Springs headlines, subscribe to our daily newsletter at RoughDraftAtlanta.com/newsletters. Parents rally against school closure and redistricting plan By Bob Pepalis Parents of elementary school students in Sandy Springs asked the Fulton County Board of Education not to disrupt their children’s education by closing Spalding Drive Elementary and redistricting students from every school in the city. The school board held a work session with a public comment period on Nov. 12 at its North Learning Center in Sandy Springs. Board members heard from seven of the approximately 40 parents who attended the meeting, many wearing Save Spalding Drive Elementary shirts. Spalding Drive parent Natasha Crocker said that closing the school would have minimal capacity relief. She suggested redistricting a larger school instead would eliminate more unused classrooms, but Crocker said parents were prohibited from offering comments on this idea because it did not fit the approved criteria for closure and redistricting. “You want community feedback. FFere it is. Nobody in the community wants this. Everyone is speaking out. You have Republicans, Democrats, state leaders, local leaders, businesses, realtors, families, everyone is saying, don’t do this,” Crocker said. State Sen. Josh McLaurin and other Democrats have joined with Republicans — including Fulton County Commissioner 1/ BROOK December Highlights 1 Holiday Lights Opening Night Brook Run Park \ 4-8 p.m. 1 Holiday Lights Free display nightly Brook Run Park 3 Art Commission Meeting City Hall | 7:30 a.m. C Zoning Board of Appeals ^ Meeting City Hall | 6 p.m. H Free First Saturday 1 Winter Wonders Dunwoody Nature Center 1 p.m. 2 Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some) Stage Door Theatre 9 City Council Meeting r.itv Hall \ F) n m ^ Planning Commission Meeting City Hall | 6 p.m. Sustainability Committee Meeting City Hall | 8 a. m. Dunwoody Farmers Market Final market for 2024 Brook Run Park 9 a.m. - noon Free Community Art Workshops Spruill Center for the Arts City Hall closed ^ aty of -i Dunwoody Georgia J ‘1 WSBilin IP jNiirniiiiji Fi/j ■L Wtm CMCTtmmr.. \ j. jf" Parents of Spalding Drive Elementary School students were joined by High Point Elementary parents and Sandy Springs City Councilmember Melody Kelley, center, in voicing opposition to closing Spalding and redistricting students from every elementary school in the city. (Photo by Bob Pepalis) Bob Ellis and State Rep. Debora Silcox — to support Spalding Drive Elementary as a cornerstone of the community. “I am fully against the proposed closure and stand in solidarity with the community of SDE,” McLaurin said. “This is a misguided move by FCS.” Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul and city council members Andy Bauman, Jody Reichel, Melissa Mular, and Melody Kelley have offered support for Spalding Drive. “Let me be unequivocal. I want Spaulding Drive Elementary School to stay open,” Kelley told the school board. Kelley said the school district triggered a redistricting process that may make sense from an operational perspective. Flowever, it lacks a mechanism to have insightful and innovative conversation around alternatives, like smaller school models or updating programs to compete with private schools. “I am disappointed in how this process is being handled as it seems very rushed vs. identifying options to keep the school open and delivering a ‘win- win’ solution that will not negatively impact our families throughout the City,” Councilmember Melissa Mular told Rough Draft. “The school closure and associated redistricting is very disruptive to children in their vulnerable forming years and it is disappointing that FCS does not take the impact on the children into consideration.” Phillip Draa said he and his wife, Melissa, live in the Spalding Drive attendance zone and have a first grader attending there with two future Spalding Tigers still at home. “Why are we closing a school that provides disproportionately great results for economically disadvantaged kids and students with disabilities?” Draa asked. Andreas Garcia said his family’s home is zoned for Woodland Elementary, but his son attends Spalding Drive for its special needs program. Fie attended special needs pre-K for two years before moving to special needs kindergarten. Now he worries about the effects on his son if Spalding Drive closes. “There are so many people that have special needs kids that just need a little help so they can go to regular classes and that foundation, that rock star team that we have in Spalding Elementary, is very crucial to that success,” Garcia said. Fligh Point Elementary parents joined in the call to stop the closure as the school district’s initial redistricting plans would affect students at the other six elementary schools in Sandy Springs. Dr. Dhaval Desai said a study of the initial redistricting map proposals shows FCS would send 100 to 150 students from Fligh Point Elementary to other schools. “Fligh Point has a very strong culture,” Desai said. “And let me emphasize that, I cannot emphasize that enough from 6 | DECEMBER 2024 ROUGHDRAFTATLANTA.COM
