Gould Elementary meeting fails to offer unified rezoning demands ahead of board vote
Migrant Equity Southeast (MESE) hosted a "Community Open Mic" that began at 6 p.m. on Nov. 29. The event allowed families and teachers to address concerns about the rezoning concerning the current Carrie S. Gould Elementary School community. The event was held at Silk Hope Baptist Church, 4929 Pineland Drive, Garden City.
Though billed as an open mic, three teachers, one student, and a few parents made up a predetermined list of speakers. The majority speakers expressed concerns about the initial draft of Savannah-Chatham Public School System's (SCCPSS) 2024-25 Long-range Facilities Plan. The plan has led to ongoing unrest within the Gould school community, which anxiously awaits the school board's vote on Dec. 6.
Issues with the facilities plan
The plan would split the current Gould student population up among three other schools, which are James Henry Coy Butler Elementary, Bishop Gilbert Haven Elementary and New Hampstead K-8 school. Butler and Haven are Promise Schools, which means they need support to sustain improvement or prevent them from falling into the lowest five percent of Federally Identified Schools in the district. Kelly Graham is one Gould parent who spoke Wednesday. She had previously cited concerns about Gould students, including her first grader, being rezoned to "underperforming" schools.
Gould Elementary Kindergarten Dual Language Immersion Program teacher, Miriam Ralda, reiterated that concern as she read from a longer version of the speech she had previously shared in front of the SCCPSS school board on Nov. 1. She also questioned why a number of schools listed on a SCCPSS July 26 Capital Improvement Committee report have a lower Facility Condition Index (FCI) score than Gould yet were slated for either full replacements built adjacent to existing facilities or slated for renovations.
MESE Executive Director Daniela Rodriguez suggested that SCCPSS has developed a pattern of making abrupt changes that disrupt school populations, particularly schools with high numbers of English speakers of other languages (ESOL) students. She cited the recent relocation of nearly 200 Groves High School ESOL students to other high schools. "If you [SCCPSS] are changing things around, why were the schools with the highest percentages of Latino students....and ESOL students, should be the first ones to go through the changes?"
Gould is one of 13 schools affected by the changes proposed in the facilities plan. Gould, however, was the only school recommended to have its entire student population reassigned to other schools.
Another MESE representative, Christina Magaña, presented a list of possible “legal implications” if SCCPSS moves forward with its rezoning plans. She said that the legal information was compiled by the Advancement Project, a national civil rights and social justice nonprofit focused primarily on police-free schools.
The main focus of MESE's presentation implied that SCCPSS has not "adequately communicated facilities planning processes with families who are limited English proficient." The organization's slide decks were difficult to read and not immediately shared with the media. The Savannah Morning News (SMN) has requested copies of the documents and is still awaiting receipt.
When asked if the sharing of potential legal implications meant that MESE was contemplating a lawsuit against SCCPSS, Rodriguez said, "No, not necessarily. We believe that before getting into legal stuff, the voices of the people that are going to be impacted need to be heard."
A few parents also shared their thoughts at the meeting, including Former Gould Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) President Rebecca Teter and current PTA President Alexis Crawford. Both reiterated frustrations about lack of transparency from SCCPSS and concerns about the timing of the facilities plan announcements. Crawford said, if the school board moves forward with the facilities plan as proposed, she had one question for district leaders: "Where are the Gould Elementary ESPLOST funds?"
ESPLOST stands for Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which is a one-penny sales tax that Georgia school systems may use for capital improvements. Parents seemed to imply that the district applied funds designated for a Gould replacement onsite to the Groves-Mercer-Gould (GMG) K-12 Complex on Hwy. 21 at the intersection of 201 Rommel Ave. A district representative shared the original, "ESPLOST proposal that was presented at the March 6, 2019, Informal Board Meeting showing projected cost savings if a K-12 school was built at the Groves site to hold all three schools, rather than building three separate new schools for Gould, Mercer, and Groves."
This information disproves community accounts that stated the district first made known the plan to move Gould to the new complex at an April 20, 2023, PTA meeting.
District addresses Groves HS concerns: Why were nearly 200 ESOL students rapidly moved?
Community demands and alternative solutions lack cohesion
The three community solutions voiced by various individuals throughout evening were:
Keep the Gould school community in its current building with renovations.
Build a new school adjacent to the existing Gould facility on the grounds that the board of education owns off of Pineland Drive. According to Savannah Area Geographic Information System (SAGIS) Gould Elementary sits on a 17.37 acre plot.
Move all Gould teachers, staff and students to the new GMG K-12 Complex.
One teacher who identified herself as Mrs. Ellsworth, formerly Ms. Shaw, called the GMG complex a monstrosity. "What the school board is trying to sell us is no Gould!" she said. "We have a solution. Leave us. Leave Gould. Use the ESPLOST money that you put someplace else to build us our school." The previously mentioned March 2019 ESPLOST proposal indicates that funds were always intended to build a replacement facility for Gould within the GMG Complex.
Ellsworth went on to say that teachers would,"take portables. We'll double up. We want our family." She claimed that SCCPSS only cares about its bottom line and not the children.
Other speakers said they simply wanted their voices heard by SCCPSS board members and district leaders.
Rodriguez said that MESE listens to the people, who are telling MESE they do not want the current plan and that everything feels rushed. When asked what the people do want in terms of a facilities plan, she said, "It changes. Because not all parents are the same. They all have children with different grades. We have children who are bilingual or not. They have children who have a disability or not."
While a cohesive community demand regarding the physical home of Gould failed to materialize during the event, all in attendance seemed clear on one desired outcome. They want school board members to vote "No" on the facilities at the Dec. 6 school board meeting.
Broken Promises?: Gould Elementary community demands Savannah school district change rezoning plans
Absent stakeholders?
MESE shared information about the Wednesday night meeting via a press release on Monday morning stating that it would be a "convening of stakeholders." Noticeably absent from the event, however, were SCCPSS school board members and district leaders.
MESE claimed on Tuesday afternoon to have invited members of the SCCPSS school leaders. Six of the nine SCCPSS board members responded to inquiries from SMN affirming that had not received until after 12 p.m. Wednesday, roughly six hours before the event. MESE's event also occurred on the same evening that SCCPSS leaders had previously planned 6 p.m. parent meetings at three of the other affected schools.
When questioned about the timing of invitations, Rodriguez replied, "I indicated that I had sent it to some of them." She also said that it was a public event posted to the MESE Facebook page and shared via media outlets.
Parents who attended said they would have welcomed school leaders to the discussion. Crawford's speech included a nod to any who might have been in attendance.
Teter said in an email on Thursday evening, "I am frustrated to hear that the MESE did not invite our board members or district leaders. The whole point of this meeting is for the powers that be to hear our voices." Graham said, "I am not understanding the point of scheduling the meeting without having given the board a chance to respond (though I doubt they would have)."
School Board President Roger Moss and Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed.D, have expressed that school leaders are listening to the feedback. As of this printing no formal meeting between school leaders and members of the Gould Elementary community or MESE has been announced.
As of Friday morning, the Dec. 6 school board meeting agendas were posted. The facilities plan is listed as item 9.05 with an attached document that indicates a presentation will be made. There is no "recommended action" listed on the agenda item, which appears to mean that the facilities plan may not be up for a vote after all.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Gould community calls for School Board to vote 'no' on facilities plan
