ATLANTA — Parents and teachers spoke out Tuesday night in front of the Atlanta Public School board as board members prepared to make a final vote on whether to close 10 APS schools.
The board decided to close seven schools out of the 10 Superintendent Errol Davis had proposed in his final recommendation to the board. The board voted to leave open D.H. Stanton, F.L. Stanton and Towns elementary schools.
"It's a painful process. No one wants it to be done. We have tried to be sensitive to community impacts, but we also tried to recognize the conditions we face," Davis said.
Davis addressed the Atlanta School Board Tuesday afternoon before his associate superintendent presented Davis' final recommendations for a massive redistricting of APS.
The plan includes school closings, renovations and zone reassignments that will affect thousands of students.
The schools that will be closed are Parks and Kennedy middle schools and Capitol View, East Lake, Herndon, White and Cook elementary schools.
Davis said the decision on closures was based on exhaustive demographic studies and under-enrollment in schools where the student population had shifted.
Davis said APS needs to consolidate resources to better serve students system wide.
The school system faces a $46 million deficit next year and has seen its revenues fall by $120 million since 2009.
"This board is not responsible for the population shifts and changes, the overabundance of kids in one area and a dearth of kids in others. But we need to respond to that," Davis said.
Davis did not have a vote in the final decision. He said he will make do with the board's decision.
"We will be closing seven schools, but we also will be looking at staffing cuts in a large number of areas. One of the things that I'm committed to doing is moving people and resources out of the central office and into the schools," Davis said.
Davis said he hopes this is the last time he has to deal with school closures like this.
At the board meeting at Maynard Jackson High school, dozens of parents and community leaders held signs urging board members to remove their school from the closure list.
The redistricting plan will be implemented at the beginning of the next school year.
WSBTV
