New Proposal For Shifting Mobile Students

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By Steve Alexander Reporter

M50o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr New Proposal For Shifting Mobile Students

Published: Tue, March 25, 2008 - 10:43 pm

Steve Alexander

Mobile County students who can't go to Saraland schools next year may not have to go to Shaw High School after all.
Teachers and parents have come up with a proposal that would keep children closer to where they live.
Several people spoke out at the Mobile School Board Meeting Tuesday night against sending their children to Shaw.
That idea was proposed by Superintendent Roy Nichols.
Brandie Russ said, "That (going to Shaw) is adding on at least an hour a day to a middle school child's day, over an hour probably, if you consider the northern part of this area."
Billy Bush, the mayor of Satsuma, said, "If a kid is going to have to leave home, let them go to college or in the service when they're 19 or 20 years old. Don't move them at 11 and 12 years old."
However, a group of teachers and parents has come up with a proposal that would keep Satsuma, Creola and Axis students closer to home.
Third graders would go to Robert E. Lee Primary School, fourth through sixth graders would go to Robert E. Lee Elementary School, and seventh and eighth graders would go to The Annex, which is the old Satsuma High School.
Kathy Copeland says this would allow her grandchildren to travel just over three miles as opposed to over nineteen miles, and save twenty-five minutes of travel time.
Copeland says, "It does not make sense to travel an additional 40, 45 minutes and in some cases, probably 50 minutes, to a school in the middle of a subdivision."
Could such an idea work?
Nichols says, "Right now, because of the budget crunch it makes it viable, because there are enough classrooms. Now the question is, can we put together a halfway decent middle school experience for kids in that situation?"
The board did not discuss the proposal Tuesday night.
Superintendent Nichols says he'll present a revised proposal if he and his staff deem it workable at the next meeting in April.

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