Schools
East Cobb School Replacement Options Outlined
While parents at Brumby and Mountain View want new schools, Eastvalley parents are against a proposed consolidation.
Of the six possible options for elementary replacement facilities in the Cobb County School District, three are in the East Cobb area.
At a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, school district staff detailed the options, including three proposed consolidations. The suggestions are:
- Argyle Elementary (Smyrna-Vinings)
- Belmont Hills/LaBelle (Smyrna)
- Brumby (East Cobb)
- Clay/Harmony Leland/Riverside Intermediate/Riverside Primary (Mableton-South Cobb)
- Mountain View (East Cobb/Northeast Cobb)
- Powers Ferry/Eastvalley (East Cobb)
In each case, the new school construction project would require the affected schools to relocate.
"This is a list of options, not recommendations," said Chris Ragsdale, the Cobb deputy superintendent for operations, adding that they were based on proposals from school communities, staff and school board members.
Related stories:
- Mountain View Parents to Hold Town Hall
- Eastvalley Parents Surprised by Consolidation Plan
- Mountain View ES Rebuild Recommended
- East Cobb Parents Push for New Schools
The predicament for the school board is that it can select only two replacement projects -- possibly as early as December -- with funds from the forthcoming Cobb Education SPLOST IV collection.
Before the presentation, parents and students from three school communities in particular -- Brumby, Harmony Leland and Mountain View -- pressed the board again to replace their aging buildings.
"The air in our school is seriously gross," Mountain View student Jordan Tisdale told the board during a public comment session in a packed board meeting room.
Parents, students and school staff members held up signs and clapped at many of the comments, as has been the case for several months.
The Mountain View community has been urging a rebuild to replace a 1960s building they say contains mold and bad air, leaks heavily during rain and is a traffic and safety nightmare on busy Sandy Plains Road.
Mountain View parents have scheduled a Nov. 11 town hall meeting to invite public officials to hear more about their concerns.
The same goes for parents and students at Brumby Elementary, locked in a commercial corridor on Powers Ferry Road. With 17 trailers, it's also the most overcrowded of the possible replacement options with more than 1,000 students.
The Brumby PTA recently held an open house that included East Cobb school board member Scott Sweeney and East Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott.
Parents at Eastvalley are fighting a proposal by board member David Banks to merge it with Powers Ferry. On Wednesday they grilled him at a school meeting and were unsatisfied with what they heard; they also turned out heavily on Thursday night to urge his colleagues to reject the plan.
"Mountain View is asking for a new school; Brumby is asking for a new school," Eastvalley parent Lynn Clark said. "Eastvalley doesn't want one.
"Please leave us alone."
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