Toomer Elementary (Decatur, Jackson, White: elementary school, cost, yard)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by travbo

Yes, many in the Reynoldstown are choosing private/charter schools. The Whitefoord closure is being pushed and celebrated by that community even though only a handful of individuals in that community currently support public schools. They are basically holding APS hostage by saying they want their kids in Burgess Peterson or else. It's so self defeating that i just don't comprehend. It's also completely gerrymandering of the school districts.

My greatest concern about the potential Whitefoord closure is the perception it will have on young families choosing communities to reside in and the fact that Edgewood will have yet another empty school building with the potential to be neglected.

Just know the Toomer ES and Kirkwood communities will welcome Edgewood families with open arms and work together.

[arjay57]

Schools are so important to a community. I sure hope APS is taking into account all the issues around this.

They should certainly be using current demographic data. Info from 2010 is way too old to make intelligent decisions on this.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Schools are so important to a community. I sure hope APS is taking into account all the issues around this.

They should certainly be using current demographic data. Info from 2010 is way too old to make intelligent decisions on this.

Probably not, they are always behind. But these areas have changed so much so fast, since the last census.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by Forhall

Wow, well that's very unfair. Property values in that area have been climbing mainly because Toomer is doing very well and the area is getting affluent. Rezoning Whitefoord, a predominantly lower income and low performing school, is going to really bring down the average. Anyone waiting for their property values to shoot up when Toomer is at a 8 or 9 on Great Schools just got kneecapped by APS. Adding in Whitefoord probably keeps Toomer at no higher than 5 for many years.

Absolutely kills me that people actually use Great Schools as a resource to decide how good a school is. It's a pretty horrible metric, and tells you little to nothing about what is actually happening inside the school. Talk to parents, talk to teachers, visit the schools, research what the community is doing to invest in their public school. THAT is how to get a more accurate reading of where a school currently is, or where it is heading.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by CCATL

Absolutely kills me that people actually use Great Schools as a resource to decide how good a school is. It's a pretty horrible metric, and tells you little to nothing about what is actually happening inside the school. Talk to parents, talk to teachers, visit the schools, research what the community is doing to invest in their public school. THAT is how to get a more accurate reading of where a school currently is, or where it is heading.

I agree, but prospective buyers use it and thus it drives property prices up or down.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by CCATL

Absolutely kills me that people actually use Great Schools as a resource to decide how good a school is. It's a pretty horrible metric, and tells you little to nothing about what is actually happening inside the school. Talk to parents, talk to teachers, visit the schools, research what the community is doing to invest in their public school. THAT is how to get a more accurate reading of where a school currently is, or where it is heading.

People are lazy and don't want to work hard for much, but one would think people would try and do as much research as possible for their biggest purchase.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Dkeating

... I think the middle-class parents who are considering Toomer now probably rely less on average test scores than reports from other middle-class parents whose kids are there about their experiences.

Exactly.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by travbo

This is completely inaccurate. Whitefoord Elementary, while currently predominantly lower income is NOT a low performing school. In fact, Toomer Elementary is the local elementary listed as a low-performing institution by the state of Georgia Department of Education.

In addition, just as the Kirkwood community is seeing real estate prices rise and new household formation, Edgewood is seeing the same amount of family and household formation by higher income households. As a member of the Edgewood community and supporter of both the Edgewood and Kirkwood neighborhoods and schools I believe it as our duty to fight APS on this very strongly.

If we fail to do so i believe we are going to see an overcrowded Toomer come 2018 and by 2020 you will likely see APS regretting a decision to close Whitefoord Elementary.

Many of the demographic data that the APS is using is dated. I was speaking to the past president of the Edgewood Neighborhood and the information that APS is using to indicate student aged population shows that a 1 block radius from him has 0 kids, while that was true 5 years ago the same block radius now has 20 kids aged 0-3. That's just a single block among many.

My wife and I live on Whitefoord Avenue just blocks from the school and are expecting our first child this March. The APS should simply understand that things are changing very rapidly and utilize the current data that is available to the public. Our unborn child is on 5 daycare waiting list with no known ETA on when we may get added to a roster.

Whitefoord should remain OPEN.

I can very much agree with this.

This is what happened in CoD in the mid-2000s. Now all of the schools they closed are back open.

[red92s]

Originally Posted by aries4118

I can very much agree with this.

This is what happened in CoD in the mid-2000s. Now all of the schools they closed are back open.

. . . and thriving. They made some tough decisions about the operating costs of many half-full schools versus fewer schools with more headcount. They circled the wagons and used resources efficiently. There were some families that were understandably and justifiably upset by those changes. It's tough to sit here now and say the CoD school system would be in the same position today if they hadn't combined facilities. The fact that those schools are open again today doesn't necessarily indicate it was the wrong move at the time.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by red92s

. . . and thriving. They made some tough decisions about the operating costs of many half-full schools versus fewer schools with more headcount. They circled the wagons and used resources efficiently. There were some families that were understandably and justifiably upset by those changes. It's tough to sit here now and say the CoD school system would be in the same position today if they hadn't combined facilities. The fact that those schools are open again today doesn't necessarily indicate it was the wrong move at the time.

And why couldn't APS do the same if/when Whitefoord needs to be brought online?