E. Rivers Parents Oppose APS Redistricting Plans

From Patch Reports

The Local School Council and PTA have issued a "position statement" opposing all four school redistricting options proposed by the APS. The statement says "the options have placed our PTA and LSC in the untenable position of attempting to represent a school whose community is proposed to be torn apart."

As noted in the statement, E. Rivers was proposed for expansion or renovation in the APS proposal to continue the special 1-cent sales tax, which was approved by voters. With 635 students, is 200 students over capacity.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution education writer Maureen Downey cited the E. Rivers statement in her Get Schooled blog, which focused on the widespread opposition across the city to the APS redistricing options.

Here is the statement from the E. Rivers Local School Council and PTA:

Date: January 8, 2012

To: Mr. Erroll Davis, Superintendent
Ms. Brenda Muhammad, Chair, Atlanta Board of Education
Members of the Atlanta Board of Education
Atlanta Public School Demographic Study Team

From: Kelly Hunt, E. Rivers PTA Co-president
Elise Lowry, E. Rivers PTA Co-president
Joleen Neel, Vice Chair, Local School Council
Delana Reeves, Chair, Local School Council
RE: Expand E. Rivers to Meet the Growth Needs of Existing Community of Students

We, The PTA and Local School Council of E. Rivers Elementary School, stand together to oppose all four options proposed by the demographers. The proposals decimate a school which, prior to the recent dramatic growth in its student enrollment, was referred to as the “best kept secret in Buckhead.” The options have placed our PTA and LSC in the untenable position of attempting to represent a school whose community is proposed to be torn apart. In the options as presented Loring Heights would be removed from the School cluster; Underwood Hills, Berkeley Park and our Hispanic community on Chattahoochee Avenue would be rezoned for Bolton Academy (displacing four neighborhoods currently zoned to Bolton from the school they helped build); Peachtree Hills would be rezoned to the proposed new elementary school.

APS should not undo what years of hard work and dedication on the part of parents, teachers and staff have created at E. Rivers: a beautifully diverse, close-knit school community. Under one option, our school is torn into three different directions, sending our children from several neighborhoods to schools whose student achievement data are not as strong. The reinvestment in E. Rivers as a neighborhood school began slowly but surely in early 2002 when enrollment of 395 was composed mainly of transfer students, two Pre-K classes and four Low Incidence PEC sections. In addition to some die-hard E. Rivers families, several parents of one neighborhood playgroup committed to “giving E. Rivers a chance.” By the 2005-2006 school year, enrollment at E. Rivers had grown to 424 and the school had become more diverse and representative of the zoned neighborhoods. Current parents recruited neighbors to enroll in the school that had become such a positive part of their lives. Student transfer letters ceased in 2007, both Pre-K classes have been relocated to other schools and there is space for only 1 Low-Incidence PEC unit. In 2009, enrollment jumped 14 percent, and this year enrollment is at 635 students. The secret is out. E. Rivers is a school of choice.

Families also cherish and celebrate the diversity of our school. We have our Hispanic neighborhood, our affluent neighborhoods, our decidedly middle-class neighborhoods and our young, trendy neighborhoods. E. Rivers has families from 19 countries and our 4th grade has a full inclusion classroom where children of varying abilities learn together. Historically, Rivers is a Title I school with a significant population of ESOL students. Additionally, our school has consistently posted strong CRCT scores and 0.0% of our classrooms were flagged for irregularities during the 2009 CRCT. We believe that our school is an exemplary model for success.

We achieved this success together as a community of administrators, faculty, and families. To remove several neighborhoods from our school will destroy the volunteer base and the leadership of our PTA and committees. Of the 72 committee chairs, over half (38) come from neighborhoods that all four options remove from the E. Rivers community. Of the four PTA key leadership positions, three of the officers live in the neighborhoods demographers recommend removing from E. Rivers. To deprive the school of volunteer hours, volunteer leadership, and volunteer expertise would devastate the E. Rivers community.
As a community school we ask that Atlanta Public Schools consider the following options:

•  Build a larger school to meet the growth needs of our existing community of students. Rivers is already slated for expansion, and SPLOST IV funds are designated for this expansion. David White, our longtime leader, who is currently on loan as Director of SRT 4 has had a longtime vision of the "perfect" sized school since we began the journey to handle our over-crowding several years back. After thoughtful consideration and research, David, along with the LSC and PTA leaders believe that building a school to accommodate a planning capacity of 750 students is the best option to solve our capacity issues. This would keep our current community intact and allow for the growth flexibility needed in our area over the next 5-10 years or more.

•  Keep E. Rivers current students part of our NAPPS cluster without displacing students from other schools who are at risk of being pushed out of our cluster.

• Keep E. Rivers neighborhoods in the current feeder pattern (SMS and NAHS). Our strong IB program prepares students to succeed in the current feeder pattern of and North Atlanta High School. Students in this pattern benefit from a consistent curriculum and an opportunity to earn the full IB Diploma.

We the undersigned, as the leaders of our school, implore you to keep E. Rivers intact. E. Rivers is greater than the sum of its parts, with each unique neighborhood making its own distinct contributions. Today, children from the Underwood Hills playgroup mentioned above are seniors at North Atlanta High and the neighborhood has its own bus for current E. Rivers’ students. The E. Rivers tradition lives on. Do not destroy E. Rivers. Keep together the E. Rivers community and honor the school as one to be emulated.