First of Two Open Houses on Proposed School Rezonings Held

Amie Matthews said she won’t send her daughter to , even if the proposed realignments in school attendance zones within the Apalachee cluster are approved.

“My husband said today if moving needs to be an option, then moving will be an option,” the Auburn resident said. “That’s how serious we are. It’s our children.”

Matthews’ daughter, who is in pre-K and will be starting kindergarten next school year at , is one of hundreds of students who would be affected by the Barrow County School System’s plans to restructure attendance zones within the Apalachee cluster of schools.

The rezonings are intended to ease overcrowding at , which serves students living in the southernmost part of the county and is approaching 1,000 students compared to Auburn Elementary’s 550.

“We live in an area that is growing by leaps and bounds, and we have to adjust based on that,” Barrow County Schools Superintendent Wanda Creel said this evening. “I know that it’s difficult, but I also know we are working to involve people in the process.”

The first of two open houses to allow parents and community members to comment on the proposed rezonings was held tonight at Yargo Elementary. Large maps were laid out in the school’s cafeteria depicting various proposals for rezonings, as well as the two the rezoning committee will recommend to the board of education — one for Bethlehem and Yargo elementary schools and second for Auburn and . The zoning committee is made up of parents, teachers, principals, district-level staff and board of education members.

The two areas identified for possible changes are:

1. All residences north of Ga. Highway 316 whose students attend Yargo Elementary and
2. Residences south of Ga. Highway 316 between Ga. Highway 81 and Briscoe Mill Road with students currently attending Bethlehem Elementary and Haymon-Morris Middle

The proposed rezonings would not affect high school students as only schools in the Apalachee cluster are being rezoned, but the proposal could affect where students attend middle school.

For Matthews, whose three older children attended Yargo Elementary, where she plans to enroll her youngest, the change is not a welcome one.

“She will not academically get what I want her to get, that all my other three have had in this school system,” Matthews said. “I know, academically, it’s a better school. We’ve been in this district for so many years and these three schools (Yargo, Haymon-Morris and ) are the best. That’s not fair for my child, academically.”

Matthews also has a student in seventh grade who attends Haymon-Morris Middle and would be affected by the rezonings if the school system didn’t plan to allow rising fifth and eighth-graders to be grandfathered in and remain at their respective schools.

Creel said the parents she had spoken with who were the most frustrated were those who had moved into specific areas so their children could attend a particular school.

“I have had someone say, ‘You’re not a parent.’ … First of all, I am a parent,” Creel said. “Secondly, I am the parent of 12,800 children. I may not take them home with me at night but I take this seriously and I want to make sure that every one of our children are in a quality classroom every day. There isn’t a school that I would be afraid to put a child in and not know they were getting a quality education.”

Lisa Phillips, whose daughter would be able to remain at Yargo Elementary for her fifth grade year, is concerned about where she would attend middle school if the proposed rezonings are approved.

“Both of my boys went to Haymon-Morris and I love Dr. (Sheila) Kahrs and I love the way she runs the school,” Phillips said. “I’m going to do everything possible to keep her going to Haymon-Morris.”

Phillips plans to look into HB251, which Creel mentioned during tonight's open house. The Quality Basic Education Act, enacted by the Georgia General Assembly in 2009, gives parents the right to have their student attend any school within a school system under certain conditions, provided the school has adequate space for the student. Parents will be able to request that their child attend a certain school in May, and forms will go out with each student attending Barrow County schools.

A second open house on the proposed rezonings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Auburn Elementary. Comments and suggestions made during both open houses will be reviewed by the rezoning committee and taken into consideration before the committee presents its recommendations to the board of education at its work session Feb. 22.

The board will also accept written comments and suggestions, which can be submitted by mail or dropped off before noon Friday. The address is Barrow County Schools, 179 W. Athens St., Winder, Georgia 30680, and correspondences should be made to the attention of the superintendent.