The Henry County BOE is going on the offensive

The Henry County BOE is going on the offensive now about the closing of McDonough Elementary School. And they are receiving help from one of the weak minded in the county which is not surprising.  Any way back to the BOE.  Remember these are the same people who wanted to close Smith-Barnes Elementary in Stockbridge and move Patrick Henry High over there.  The local citizens fought it and the BOE found it would be politically in their favor to leave all alone.  Now they are proposing the same thing by wanting to close a newly renovated McDonough Elementary by busing those students to other schools and now they are wanting again to move Patrick Henry High to McDonough.  The red lights should be flashing here as why do they really want to move Patrick Henry High and who wants the property?  Here is the offensive Q &A about the McDonough Elementary.  They try to sugar it up good.
1.What is the proposal for McDonough Elementary being proposed by the Board of Education?  Their plan is to rezone the school district to move those children to Walnut Creek, Tussahaw, and Wesley Lakes.  And then move Patrick Henry High from Stockbridge to McDonough.  (The key here is this proposal is by the Superintendent Mr. Bowler and not the BOE.  That is why he didn’t get what he wanted at the BOE meeting the other night.  There will be two meetings for the people of the area to voice their opinions.)
2. Why is McDonough Elementary’s building being proposed for repurposing?  They feel that it would be good to have Patrick Henry High there so the students would have a short walk over to the tech school.  (This is again another smoke screen.  Patrick Henry Academy as they want to call it is an alternative school for children who have problems and a way to keep them in school to get their diploma.  Some go on to tech school and even college, but the majority do not.  Again causing hardship for the teachers from both McDonough and Stockbridge.)
3. What if anything, can current students and their families expect different at their new zone school?  All functions are part of the cluster school already so little would change according to the BOE.  (Anytime you split up a school where children have friends and send them on buses to other facilities will cause problems and friction with the students.  And don’t say it can’t happen because it does everyday.)
4. Are any other zones being changed as a result of the proposal?  Only McDonough Elementary is involved.  (What about Patrick Henry High?  Those students will have to travel in many cases much farther which in turn could affect drop out rates.  These ideas are being handled much like the BOE tried a few years ago wanting more tax money and the people said no on the ballot.)
5. What does the future hold for McDonough Elementary?  The proposal doesn’t mean that this is the end of the school because with the E-Splost that possibly in the future there will be more elementary, middle and high school set ups.  (They are reaching on this one.  Once this McDonough Elementary School is gone it is gone.  Again, trying to bribe the public with something that very likely will never happen in this generation.)

The Board of Education spokesperson is just doing her job by trying to coax the opinion toward them.  But here is a  novel idea: put it on a special ballot and let the people vote for it because it is about their money and their children.  And leave out people who have no clue as to what is really happening behind those walls at the BOE.  Money, power, and real estate go a long way in handling where our children will go to school.  This is being read and listened to around the nation currently and it is getting bad reviews just as the eminent domain issue in Stockbridge of a few years ago that cast a cloud over that city that remains to this day.

The Citizens Who Want to Keep McDonough Elementary Open

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