School Board Approves Factory Shoals Elementary Move

A request by representatives Angel Cross and Lisa McDonald for a 30-day delay on voting to move students into the currently under construction Mount Vernon Elementary wasn’t heeded at Monday’s meeting.

Board Chair Jeff Morris of District 5, Dr. Sam Haskell of District 4 and Vice Chair Janet Kelley of District 3, who represents Factory Shoals Elementary, voted for the administration-backed plan of moving Factory Shoals students to the new school. D.T. Jackson of District 2 voted against the plan. 

Michael Miller of District 1 abstained from voting. Although Brighten doesn't have a designated board member since it serves the whole county, technically the charter school is in Miller's district based on its location.

The decision marked one of the few non-unanimous votes the board has taken this year.

“I just didn’t think I knew enough about it and just didn’t feel comfortable about it,” Miller said of why he abstained. “I didn’t feel a motion to table (the vote) would get support. I’m not for it or against it … I just wanted more information.”

About 25 representatives of Brighten Academy attended the 80-minute meeting. The charter school wanted to explore possibly moving into the current Factory Shoals Elementary itself.

“We're disappointed and surprised that we were not afforded the 30 days we requested to conduct a feasibility study on Factory Shoals Elementary School,” Brighten Academy Director McDonald stated in an email on behalf of her and the school’s board to Douglasville Patch following the meeting.

“We had hoped to engage in further discussions about maximizing use of district facilities for all students, including Brighten's 424 K-8 students,” she continued. “The continued support from our parents, staff and community has only strengthened our resolve, and we remain committed to ensuring our students are treated no less favorably than other public school students.”

Kelley, who asked several questions about the district’s plans for the current Factory Shoals Elementary building during the discussion period prior to the vote, said she felt “comfortable” with the school system’s timeline.

The district plans to release its redistricting map in January for overcrowded elementary schools Annette Winn, and Sweetwater. The three schools, which currently utilize 29 mobile classrooms combined, will fill out the new Factory Shoals’ increased student capacity of more than 750. Factory Shoals Elementary currently has about 485 students.

“I had my questions answered about the proposed use of Factory Shoals Elementary School,” Kelley said after the meeting. “I’m a strong supporter of the PLC and giving those students a permanent home.”

As part of the district’s proposal unveiled at the Nov. 14 board meeting, Performance Learning Center (PLC) students and middle school Ombudsman students would be relocated out of temporary, non-school system owned facilities to the current Factory Shoals building. However, Superintendent Gordon Pritz reiterated at Monday's meeting that students of both programs would be housed in different wings with separate entrances and would never mix.

Chief Operating Officer Dudley Spruill said that under the plan the current Factory Shoals building would also be used for district office and meeting space, training, furniture storage and offsite bus parking.

During the discussion period, Human Resources Director Michelle Ruble provided the board with the results of an online survey the district conducted on its website from Nov. 15 to Dec. 1 using SurveyMonkey. The survey received 135 responses, which included:

• Eighty-four percent (114 respondents) backing the importance of “efficient and effective school size and enrollment” as “possible justifications for the establishment of the new Elementary School attendance zones.” Eighty-two percent noted the importance of the time, distance and safety students needed to travel from home to school.

Also during the meeting other items of interest were discussed. These were:

• Pritz provided the board with an “information only” update on mid-year allotment adjustments. He requested unfreezing five vacant positions, which would increase the General Fund budget for fiscal year 2012 by $147,634. The positions are transportation coordinator ($56,000), technology specialist ($33,000), financial analyst ($30,530), New Manchester High custodian ($16,000) and fingerprint technician ($12,104). He also requested budget neutral adjustments with an assistant principal position at Lithia Springs High, a teacher/head football coach position and adding a Title I technology position.
• District Chief Financial Officer Kay Turner told the board that actual monthly SPLOST receipts have been lower than the projected scheduled receipts of $2 million to $2.15 million since January 2010. The school system has received more than the scheduled receipts only three times since December 2008.
• Community Relations Director Karen Stroud gave a PowerPoint presentation on the school system’s community engagement. She said currently the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has 2,402 local members through 18 schools and the Central Office. It has 178 active partnerships between business and schools. District employees have contributed $412,342 over the last three years to United Way and $625,181 to Relay for Life since 2007.
• Prior to the meeting, the school board met for three hours with Georgia School Boards Association Facilitator Tony Arasi as part of its annual required board training. The board went over the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation process and its upcoming regular visit, as well as the board’s role under SACS, Pritz said.