By Kara Sumner
Parents
gathered at Monday night’s Chatham County Board of Education’s
meeting at Siler City Elementary to express their concerns with the
redistricting of Virginia Cross and Siler City Elementary Schools.
To preface
public comment, superintendent Dr. Ann Hart said the options being
presented were preliminary.
"The board
will not make any decisions tonight," she said.
The board
did, however withdraw one plan from the options being considered
before allowing public comment. Plan ES 2 – which attempted to make
the districts more racially balanced – was eliminated from
consideration. An additional plan derived from ES 2 was also
removed: K8 2.
"Right now
there is a case pending before the Supreme Court looking at…whether
schools can district based on race," said vice-chair of the board,
Deb McManus. "For the time being, I think we need to withdrawal ES 2
from consideration."
Though two of
the five proposals were rejected before public comment, a number of
parents voiced their opinion.
"You
shouldn’t have to lose something to realize what it was," said Silk
Hope parent, Victor Knight. "Silk Hope is a community where kids
learn, run, and play together. In today’s world that’s a very rare
thing."
Knight was
not the only parent who voiced concern about separating kids by
redistricting.
"I just want
you to take into account that when you break up a community, you
break up a family," said Jodie Suits, a Silk Hope parent.
McManus said
she understood parents’ concerns.
"It’s your
life," she said. "They’re your kids. It’s your school."
