James Island has its say on schools

James Island residents didn't have the chance last year to tell Charleston County school officials what's on their minds, and a crowd of roughly 100 attended a community meeting Tuesday to have their say.

Concerns repeated among attendees included opposition to the district's delayed plan to sell some of the district's land and buildings on the island as well as the desire to improve Murray-LaSaine Elementary, the island's lowest-performing school.

District leaders met with five communities late last year to solicit feedback on their proposal to close and restructure schools, and they decided not to meet with residents in three areas — James Island, Mount Pleasant and West Ashley — because the proposal didn't include major changes for those schools.

James Island residents still wanted to meet with officials. Tuesday's meeting was subdued in comparison to the riled up hearings held about school closings, but the night did have moments of contention.

One such instance happened when Roland Middleton, president of the Grimball area homeowners association, told the crowd that he's been through school closings during the Jim Crow era, and it's troubling that decisions can be made today without speaking to those who would be affected. He was particularly concerned about the district's delayed plan to sell the building and land near Clark Academy without consulting nearby residents.

"You didn't even respect us enough to even talk to us," he said. "I really believe to our community that that's a slap in the face."

School Superintendent Nancy McGinley responded later by saying that selling property is a short-term solution, and it's one of the last ideas officials want to consider. She said the community deserves to have a voice in this type of decision, and she promised to return to discuss any such proposal before making a recommendation to the county school board.

Another tense moment happened when county school board member Elizabeth Kandrac approached the microphone that residents were using to speak to officials. She brought up a comment made earlier by

George Tempel, chairman of the county's Democratic Party, who briefly mentioned his role in ensuring that board members who were supportive of the district were elected.

"I personally think that is unfortunate," Kandrac said. "My motivation is that I want to make things good for all the children."

She said she read a quote in the newspaper from school board Chairwoman Toya Green, who said part of what the school district was trying to do in restructuring schools was create a new day for minority and black students. Kandrac said Green's daughter attends Buist Academy, a high achieving magnet school.

"It should be a new day for all students, not just one type," she said.

Officials appeared poised to respond but waited until the remaining speakers said their piece.

Some parents asked for the district to consider converting Murray-LaSaine Elementary into a magnet school to stimulate academic improvement. Many families who live in that school's attendance zone transfer the children to other island schools because they don't want to send them to an under-performing school, they said.

McGinley said she wouldn't support the opening of another countywide magnet school because it creates an exodus from neighborhood schools. She said she would be open to a proposal that changed the school into a partial magnet, which means it would retain its neighborhood attendance zone but also would reserve seats for other students from across the county.

Source: charleston.net