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Possible school closings in Memphis will affect classifications if it happens


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Should the article below happen, how will that affect things going forward?

 

Here's the 28 schools that would close, 10 that would see new buildings under Hopson's plan

Jennifer Pignolet, Memphis Commercial AppealPublished 7:06 p.m. CT Dec. 11, 2018

     

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson is proposing closing 28 schools over the next several years and building 10 new schools. 

The plan aims to address a list of $500 million worth of deferred maintenance projects and 17,000 open seats across the district. Hopson called the proposal "preliminary." The school board would have to approve the plan, and later vote on individual school closures, and the Shelby County Commission would have to approve funding for the new construction. 

Estimates of the cost of the plan top $700 million. 

Here are the schools that would close, the neighborhoods that would receive new schools, and existing buildings that could get additions. 

Proposed closures

E.E. Jeter K-8

Northaven Elementary

Lucy Elementary

Woodstock Middle

Bolton High

Trezevant High

Raleigh-Egypt 6-12

Egypt Elementary

Oakshire Elementary

Gardenview Elementary

Shady Grove Elementary

Bethel Grove Elementary

Dunbar Elementary

Cherokee Elementary

Wooddale High

Sheffield High

Oakhaven High

Crump Elementary

Ross Elementary

Georgian Hills Middle

Scenic Hills Elementary

Alton Elementary

Westwood High

Hamilton Middle

Goodlett Elementary

Knight Road Elementary

Charjean Elementary

Magnolia Elementary

New schools that would be built

Alcy Elementary (already underway)

Goodlett Elementary (already underway)

Orange Mound-area elementary school

Raleigh-Egypt-area K-12 campus (This counts as two new schools)

Woodstock-area K-8 school

J.P. Freeman Optional School

Hickory Hill-area elementary school

Cordova-area high school

Parkway Village-area high school

Five schools that would get additions

Whitehaven Elementary

Winchester Elementary

Brownsville Road Elementary

Grandview Heights Middle 

Lucie E. Campbell Elementary

Edited by kwc
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After a quick glance it appears as if most of the closings and new schools being built are elementary schools with just a few being middle & high schools.  What I have witnessed is when you close a community high school you kill the pride in that community.  Sometimes it's much better to make those schools an academic magnet school to help the community.  From the budget proposal it claims that $500,000,000.00 worth of deferred maintenance is needed and it would cost $700,000,000.00 to build new schools.  Why has the maintenance been deferred?  Is the money in an account or was it spent on something else?  Memphis is probably just like MNPS in that you need a new mayor, school board that is appointed so that they can be held accountable along with a new director of schools.  People in education seem to forget that running a school district is just the same as operation a  multi million dollar business.

Edited by cbg
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1 hour ago, cbg said:

After a quick glance it appears as if most of the closings and new schools being built are elementary schools with just a few being middle & high schools.  What I have witnessed is when you close a community high school you kill the pride in that community.  Sometimes it's much better to make those schools an academic magnet school to help the community.  From the budget proposal it claims that $500,000,000.00 worth of deferred maintenance is needed and it would cost $700,000,000.00 to build new schools.  Why has the maintenance been deferred?  Is the money in an account or was it spent on something else?  Memphis is probably just like MNPS in that you need a new mayor, school board that is appointed so that they can be held accountable along with a new director of schools.  People in education seem to forget that running a school district is just the same as operation a  multi million dollar business.

Well you also have to take into account that the City of Memphis schools no longer exists and all schools are now under the Shelby County school system. That change happened about 3 - 5 years ago, or something like that. When the City of Memphis surrendered their school charter and forced Shelby County to take over the entire school system then Collierville, Germantown, Arlington, and Bartlett pulled out of the Shelby County school sysytem and established their own seperate school system. There are a lot of issues with the school system with Kirby High School and it's rodent problems being one of many. 

I don't know anything about magnet schools or how they work. I would think the school board has considered a myraid of possibilities for correcting the issues. I have no idea why the maintenance is defferred or anything else. It is obvious that schools are going to be closed. That has been the talk around here for the last 5 years or so. Memphis has an alarming high rate of 1A, 2A and 3A schools. They are all in older neighborhoods that are not attracting new home buyers. That is where 'grandma' lives now. Throw in the the new charter schools and you have what you have. Some of the charter schools are still in existence but a lot of them have closed their doors. I just think it is something that is unavoidable.

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No idea what their long term plans are going forward, but that school system could use a serious consolidation project. Memphis is not experiencing much growth. Logistically, that city should only have around 12-15 high schools, and they should all be in the 6A range with maybe a few 5A's mixed in.  

 

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On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 2:26 PM, cbg said:

After a quick glance it appears as if most of the closings and new schools being built are elementary schools with just a few being middle & high schools.  What I have witnessed is when you close a community high school you kill the pride in that community.  Sometimes it's much better to make those schools an academic magnet school to help the community.  From the budget proposal it claims that $500,000,000.00 worth of deferred maintenance is needed and it would cost $700,000,000.00 to build new schools.  Why has the maintenance been deferred?  Is the money in an account or was it spent on something else?  Memphis is probably just like MNPS in that you need a new mayor, school board that is appointed so that they can be held accountable along with a new director of schools.  People in education seem to forget that running a school district is just the same as operation a  multi million dollar business.

I disagree with your opinion of appointed board members. Elected board and appointed (by the board) Director of Schools is the optimal method of ensuring accountability to the public's best interest. The only other legal avenue is an elected DOS and appointed board. If the DOS is an elected official, he/she is held accountable by no one for four consecutive years, and would also effectively control the board.

   For the list... seems to me that smaller "neighborhood" schools are targeted to be closed, and that the new schools would be larger. Logic suggests that they would be 5A/6A in enrollment, while eliminating 1,2, and potentially 3A enrollment schools. Seven small facilities are named to be shut down, with three proposed new constructions, which would theoretically drop 10 schools (provided that they fall between the eliminated small schools, and the new schools) in class. There are a lot of variables taken for granted as for projected enrollments, but the basic idea is sound... more small schools out of the equation, and more large in.

   There's a new administration assuming power in the state, with implications looming large for everyone in Tennessee, not just Memphis. Pro school choice will gain a stronger foothold, and if so, will drastically change the way things are done in education. Pro school choice is the voucher bill, which would allow public education monies to be channeled into private hands. That means that parents/guardians will be afforded the option to defer public funds into private tuition (this is important) with no recourse. Private schools reserve the right to deny any and all applicants admission, at their discourse. In common terms, the privates will pick and choose which kids to admit, from the best academic and athletic students the public system has to offer, and the taxpaying public will foot the bill. The proponents will advertise this bill as "the public will have the choice of the best schools", but the truth is the fact that the privates have the choice... they are allowed to deny application at their discretion, without being accountable for why. The result... the decline of public education! Unathletic and sub performing academic students will be "culled" from privates, while their academics and athletic programs will flourish from having the upper 10% enrolled. All this is just my opinion, but I have done my research. If you care about your public schools, do your own thinking and vote your conscience on the voucher bill...it's coming.

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2 hours ago, tradertwo said:

I disagree with your opinion of appointed board members. Elected board and appointed (by the board) Director of Schools is the optimal method of ensuring accountability to the public's best interest. The only other legal avenue is an elected DOS and appointed board. If the DOS is an elected official, he/she is held accountable by no one for four consecutive years, and would also effectively control the board.

   For the list... seems to me that smaller "neighborhood" schools are targeted to be closed, and that the new schools would be larger. Logic suggests that they would be 5A/6A in enrollment, while eliminating 1,2, and potentially 3A enrollment schools. Seven small facilities are named to be shut down, with three proposed new constructions, which would theoretically drop 10 schools (provided that they fall between the eliminated small schools, and the new schools) in class. There are a lot of variables taken for granted as for projected enrollments, but the basic idea is sound... more small schools out of the equation, and more large in.

   There's a new administration assuming power in the state, with implications looming large for everyone in Tennessee, not just Memphis. Pro school choice will gain a stronger foothold, and if so, will drastically change the way things are done in education. Pro school choice is the voucher bill, which would allow public education monies to be channeled into private hands. That means that parents/guardians will be afforded the option to defer public funds into private tuition (this is important) with no recourse. Private schools reserve the right to deny any and all applicants admission, at their discourse. In common terms, the privates will pick and choose which kids to admit, from the best academic and athletic students the public system has to offer, and the taxpaying public will foot the bill. The proponents will advertise this bill as "the public will have the choice of the best schools", but the truth is the fact that the privates have the choice... they are allowed to deny application at their discretion, without being accountable for why. The result... the decline of public education! Unathletic and sub performing academic students will be "culled" from privates, while their academics and athletic programs will flourish from having the upper 10% enrolled. All this is just my opinion, but I have done my research. If you care about your public schools, do your own thinking and vote your conscience on the voucher bill...it's coming.

Are the parents of students in both private schools and public schools not the tax paying public?  I am not sure if I am for the voucher system, charter schools or magnet schools because I have never researched the pros and cons.  What I do know is that the public school system in both MEMPHIS (SHELBY COUNTY) AND NASHVILLE (DAVIDSON COUNTY) are a disgrace, have been for over 25 years and something must be done immediately.  The reason that I like for the school board and director of schools to be appointed by the Mayor is that it's easier and less expensive to vote one person (THE MAYOR) out of office than a dozen people.  When the original charter was drawn up for Metro Davidson County the mayor was responsible for hiring the director of schools and appointing the school board.  At that time Nashville had a great public school system.  The reason it was changed several years later is that the mayor and city council did not want to be accountable for the school system.  

Edited by cbg
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50 minutes ago, cbg said:

Are the parents of students in both private schools and public schools not the tax paying public?  I am not sure if I am for the voucher system, charter schools or magnet schools because I have never researched the pros and cons.  What I do know is that the public school system in both MEMPHIS (SHELBY COUNTY) AND NASHVILLE (DAVIDSON COUNTY) are a disgrace, have been for over 25 years and something must be done immediately.  The reason that I like for the school board and director of schools to be appointed by the Mayor is that it's easier and less expensive to vote one person (THE MAYOR) out of office than a dozen people.  When the original charter was drawn up for Metro Davidson County the mayor was responsible for hiring the director of schools and appointing the school board.  At that time Nashville had a great public school system.  The reason it was changed several years later is that the mayor and city council did not want to be accountable for the school system.  

So in essence you would make one man alone accountable for the entire Shelby County School System, with that man potentially having no background in education? As the current process stands, there's a system of checks and balances to better ensure that the public is represented, and that's the premise of our government at it's roots. Here's a link explaining that better than I, with the benefit of allowing you to follow the train of thought put into the process.

https://mytennesseepublicschools.net/theschoolsystem/the-school-board/

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39 minutes ago, tradertwo said:

So in essence you would make one man alone accountable for the entire Shelby County School System, with that man potentially having no background in education? As the current process stands, there's a system of checks and balances to better ensure that the public is represented, and that's the premise of our government at it's roots. Here's a link explaining that better than I, with the benefit of allowing you to follow the train of thought put into the process.

https://mytennesseepublicschools.net/theschoolsystem/the-school-board/

Yes, I would much rather one person (the mayor) be held accountable for the school system than a dozen individuals.  I absolutely could care less if that one person had a background in education as they will hire/appoint the people they want to be on the school board and be the director of the school system.  Again, it's much less expensive to go after one individual and vote them out of office than it is to vote out 12 individuals.  When you elect a school board most of the board members have a degree but they are not necessarily educators and nor should they be.  Running a school system is like running a billion dollar business and it has been proven with the TSSAA that educators don't have a clue as to how a business should be run.  

Edited by cbg
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The statement has been made that educators don’t have a clue as to how a business should be run. My thoughts are that a teacher/educator is the centerpiece of the education business. For example, if I’m going to open a fried chicken restaurant I am going to find the best fried chicken cooks I can. If I am a superintendent I am going to make it my number one priority to find the best possible educators Incan for all subject areas. Without this as a basic foundation any school system is bound to fail. Next l, if I am a superintendent, and cannot handle it myself, I am going to find a supremely compotent financial director for the district. So while finances are indeed important in my opinion they are secondary to the main purpose of the business of education. And for that reason teachers “run the business” of education. I think the real truth is that politicians don’t need to be in the business of educating.  We have seen that be a resounding flop time and time again thru the decades with education reform. Indeed the business of educating needs to be left to the educators. 

Edited by BIGPURPLEMACHINE
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19 hours ago, cbg said:

Yes, I would much rather one person (the mayor) be held accountable for the school system than a dozen individuals.  I absolutely could care less if that one person had a background in education as they will hire/appoint the people they want to be on the school board and be the director of the school system.  Again, it's much less expensive to go after one individual and vote them out of office than it is to vote out 12 individuals.  When you elect a school board most of the board members have a degree but they are not necessarily educators and nor should they be.  Running a school system is like running a billion dollar business and it has been proven with the TSSAA that educators don't have a clue as to how a business should be run.  

We'll just have to respectfully agree to disagree then. 

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