The crowd waited patiently and listened intently as Atlanta public schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen made the case for merging two schools in east Atlanta. The schools don’t have enough students -- and in some cases -- their buildings need major repairs, she said.
But the idea of merging Benteen Elementary School with D.H. Stanton and moving the children to Stanton did not sit well with students, teachers or parents at Benteen. The district is also considering a plan to merge Whitefoord Elementary with Toomer or Burgess-Peterson. Both schools have the capacity to house more students and Toomer is scheduled to get a $4 million facelift.
Atlanta School Board Chairman Courtney English and several other board members were on hand to listen to those who had signed up to speak. On Monday, the board is expected to vote on the proposals at its regular 6 p.m. school board meeting.
Inside the gym at Benteen, Carstarphen pressed on, telling the crowd she had read some of the Facebook posts about the proposed changes to the Maynard Jackson High School cluster, which contains the elementary schools in question. She attempted to address them in her presentation and has also put information on the district's web site. Nearby charter schools have sucked some some students out of traditional schools, public housing that contained many students has been torn down, and both have resulted in declining school populations.
Benteen has 310 students and D.H. Stanton has 265. There are elementary schools in Cobb and DeKalb counties with more than 1,000 students. One downside of the merger for teachers that they’ll have to reapply for their jobs. Carstarphen made it clear that the school district will handle that process fairly, as they have done in previous years.
Carstarphen praised teachers and leaders at the school for their efforts to improve their academic performance.
“It’s working,” Carstarphen proclaimed.
