Speakers Tell Oconee County Board Of Education They Oppose Reassignment From Malcom Bridge Elementary School

Eleven people spoke at the Oconee County Board of Education Listening Session on elementary school redistricting last week, and none of them was in favor of the plan put forward by Oconee County Schools.

The proposal calls for creation of a new elementary school district north and west of U.S. 78 to accommodate the new Dove Creek Elementary School under construction on Hog Mountain Road near the Barrow County line.

No one spoke against that feature of the redistricting plan.

What concerned those who spoke is a component of the plan that moves some parts of what is now the Malcom Bridge Elementary School District to the Rocky Branch Elementary School District to equalize the size of the student bodies of the two schools when Dove Creek Elementary opens on Aug. 1.

Those who spoke said the change is unnecessary, would disrupt the lives of the students who would be moved from Malcom Bridge to Rocky Branch, and would create safety problems because of the limitations of the road system in the area.

For more on the story, with a complete video of the Listening Session, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Maps of old and new districts.