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Reassignment Plan Draws Fire From Parents: Some Say Children Won't Do Well With `Low-Income' Students

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Emily S. Achenbaum, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Jun. 1--Some parents opposed to a student reassignment proposal say their children will learn less if they are put in schools with children from lower-income schools, earning the parents a stern reprimand from the county superintendent.

The Union County Board of Education met Tuesday night to hear public comments about an assignment plan for two new elementary schools, now known as "Elementary H" and "Elementary I."

Elementary I, which will draw students from both Wesley Chapel and Monroe, drew complaints from parents in Wesley Chapel, most living in the Villages of Wesley Chapel and St. John's Forest subdivisions.

Many said their home values would plummet if their children did not continue attending an elementary that fed into high-ranking Weddington Middle and High. "I" will feed into Sun Valley Middle and High.

Others said their children excelled at Wesley Chapel Elementary and the Weddington schools. They said their children would not do as well if mixed in with students from Monroe schools also slated to attend "I."

The parents specifically said students coming from Monroe's Walter Bickett and East elementaries were "low-income." Some parents read aloud the schools' test scores, or described the elementaries as "second-worst" and "third-worst" in the county.

"Putting low-income kids in with our kids will pull attention away from our kids," said one parent, Tonya Gardner, echoing many others' comments. Lower-income children are "less prepared" for school, thus requiring more of the teacher's attention, she said.

Walter Bickett and East elementaries are Title 1 schools, meaning they qualify for additional federal funding. Walter Bickett and East also have majority black and Hispanic student bodies, whereas Wesley Chapel and the Weddington area are overwhelmingly white. Many said they bought their homes so their children could attend Weddington schools.

"I feel compelled, as superintendent, to defend some of the schools maligned tonight," said Union County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Davis. "No matter where your child attends school in Union County, (they) will receive a top-notch education.

"It is totally unfair," Davis said, for parents to "pick on certain schools or neighborhoods to advance your situation."

One neighborhood slated to be moved to "I" under the plan did not give socio-economic reasons for being against the move. Residents of the Cornerstone neighborhood said they did not want to be moved from Shiloh Elementary to "I."

The group gave two main reasons: Their neighborhood is only one mile from Shiloh, versus five miles from "I." They said they liked the teachers and year-round calender at Shiloh, which has won top state academic honors nine years in a row. "I" will start out with a traditional calender (summers off) unless the majority of the parents lobby to have the school operate year-round, school officials said.

Some school board members said Tuesday that they were open to keeping the neighborhood at Shiloh because of the neighborhood's proximity, and because the neighborhood is built out -- meaning no new homes are underway there, unlike many other area neighborhoods still adding more homes.

While the majority of the speakers Tuesday spoke about Elementary "I," only three people spoke about Elementary "H." Those parents requested their subdivisions, Berkeley Pointe and Ivy Hill, stay at Weddington Elementary rather than move to "H." The parents said their children already had to move last year, when they were moved out of Wesley Chapel Elementary, and that their neighborhoods had only 19 elementary-age children.

About 100 people attended the public hearing. The school board plans to complete and approve an assignment plan at its scheduled meeting next Tuesday at Parkwood High.

About 60 subdivisions may be moved under the proposed plan. To look at the maps, visit the schools' Web site at www.ucps.k12.nc.us . Both elementaries are scheduled to open for the 2007-08 school year.

The New Schools

About 'Elementary H':

"H" will be built southwest of the intersection of New Town and Waxhaw-Indian Trail roads.

Some children currently assigned to Kensington, Weddington, Western Union and Wesley Chapel elementaries will attend the new school under the plan.

Children at "H" will head to either Weddington middle and high schools or Parkwood middle and high schools. That split falls along the current Weddington Middle/Parkwood Middle boundary.

About 'Elementary I':

"I" will be built northeast of the intersection of Rocky River and Weddington roads. Children proposed to attend "I" include some students from Shiloh, Walter Bickett, Wesley Chapel and Western Union elementaries. Students at "I" living in the current Parkwood middle and high boundary will attend those schools; the rest of the children will head to Sun Valley middle and high schools.

Emily S. Achenbaum: (704) 289-6576

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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