APS posts new maps and scenarios for redistricting. Are these any better?
Atlanta Public School has just posted its new redistricting scenarios and maps. Take a look and let us know what you think. Several of the files are long and will take a while to download.
I have dozens of notes from readers and friends unhappy about the first round of options. Are these any better?
If not, what scenarios can you suggest that can both deal with the serious overcrowding at some beloved schools and treat all students fairly?
–From Maureen Downey for the AJC Get Schooled blog
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
272 comments Add your comment
bu2
January 29th, 2012
9:17 pm
@seen it all
You have the wrong analogy. Its like putting a hole in the bottom of the boat and they all sink. Forcing more SES integration merely drives the higher income people out and makes it tougher for any school to thrive. And the only schools segregated by SES in Atlanta is those that are 100% lower income. None of the north Atlanta schools are totally segregated by SES (and certainly not the middle and high schools).
vh3
January 29th, 2012
11:48 pm
@wait and see: I don’t think anyone at ME or Inman feels that losing Centennial was a win. Centennial sends such a small number of kids to Inman (35-40 kids) that moving them out really doesn’t effect over crowding, so I don’t see the point of moving them. First we heard of it was when we saw these new plans. It’s as silly to send Centennial kids so far away from home as it is to send ME kids so far away (as proposed in the first round).
Some larger group would have to move out of Inman to really make a difference in the over crowding numbers. ME and Springdale are closest to Inman, so it makes sense to keep them there, maybe Centennial too(?). The demographers (and/or ABOE) don’t have to political will (or guts) to do what is really needed and move Lin out of Inman at this point, so we’ll be fighting this same battle again before too long. If the school quality wasn’t so inequitable, this wouldnt be nearly as difficult.
@bu2 from GM
January 30th, 2012
6:25 am
bu2 makes a valid point “Forcing more SES integration merely drives the higher income people out and makes it tougher for any school to thrive.”
I’m one of those people who was driven out. I registered my children for private schools in 2012 and 2013. APS will still get my tax dollars next year because I will very likely still live in the APS zone but not for long. I’ll be moving soon too because as vh3 pointed out ” The demographers (and/or ABOE) don’t have to political will (or guts) to do what is really needed and move Lin out of Inman at this point, so we’ll be fighting this same battle again before too long.”
Vh3 is right that even if option A is chosen, the battle won’t be over. Soon APS will again try to push the three neighborhoods of Inman/Candler Park/Lake Claire into the scandal plagued schools of Toomer and Coan again.
So,as Vh3 correclty points out, even if the “battle” of round one is “won” by Inman/CP/LC, the “war” isn’t over and our neighborhoods will be pitted against each other again and of course all of this is completely unnecessary. There is money enough for all the schools to grow and thrive but the powers that be at the top (the corrupt board of ed) and the petty liars and theives at the bottom (teachers and principals willing to cheat and lie and change test scores) have robbed the bank and stolen our taxpayer dollars.
The only sure way to avoid this ongoing corruption and debacle is to get out altogether.
To Critical Thinker from GM
January 30th, 2012
6:30 am
You wrote “I think the PTAs should get together and pay for an audit of APS.”
That is an interesting idea. I like it. When or if they find the corruption or unnecessary jobs (nepotism/political favors), how would the PTA change the status quo? How would they have any power to either remove unnecessary jobs or do something else? Do you suggest they send the results to the media as a means of political pressure or something else?
Nice idea. I’d contribute .
GM
To Option B Supporter from GM
January 30th, 2012
6:40 am
I found this part of your blog remarkable. You wrote “My main concern is being redistricted out of Grady High School to Jackson. That’s a significant step backwards and is a change that is completely new.”
So you don’t want to send your kids to Jackson instead of Grady. You view that as a “step backwards.” Yet, you criticize the Inman/CP/LClaire neighborhooods for the very same thing. They don’t want to go to Toomer instead of Lin. They see that as a step backwards.
I consider your post duplicitous. You can’t criticize neighborhoods for wanting and doing the same things you yourself want to do…or have I misunderstood your meaning?
Option A proponent
January 30th, 2012
8:05 am
The new maps have solved many of the issues raised in the round one maps. The Mary Lin community strongly prefers option A, which both delivers the long-promised and awaited Mary Lin expansion, and keeps our kids in a K-5 neighborhood school.
The Mary Lin community has voted twice for SPLOST, with the assurance from APS and school board members that the Mary Lin renovation and repairs would proceed. This project has been “on the books” for many years now, and then “delayed, but still happening” – just awaiting Splost 4 funds.
Mary Lin children have been in trailers throughout this time, while the Mary Lin population grew and the facility aged and fell into disrepair.
It’s time for APS to make good on its commitment to the Mary Lin community, and to move forward with the expansion.
candler park mom
January 30th, 2012
8:16 am
Option A is the best option. Option B doesn’t allow for the expansion at Mary Lin which had been promised with Splot 3. Mary Lin has the 4th and 5th grades all in trailers. A merger with Toomer will not help, plus it adds the Toomer kids to the already overcrowded Inman. What I want to know is how much money was collected with Splot 3 and where was it allocated?
Option A - Really??? Splitting a Neighborhood!
January 30th, 2012
8:25 am
Wow. Our tiny, little neighborhood didn’t even have a dog in the fight on the the first set of maps. Now APS has drawn the boundary line right through our neighborhood (completely AGAINST what they claimed they were aiming to do). With Option A, one side of the street (a quiet, neighborhood street, not a main road) would stay at Sarah Smith and the neighbors right across the street would be rezoned to Garden Hills! What rocket scientist created that map? So now we’ll have two sets of buses coming down the street? Little Johnny gets on one bus, but Little Suzy has to wait for the next bus to go to different schools? How can neighborhood moms carpool? How can we effectively support a community school when our children go to different schools and our houses are only feet apart? APS should be ashamed for such poor research. I know I shouldn’t be surprised. Who asked which neighborhood would hire a laywer first….
liberalefty
January 30th, 2012
8:32 am
why dont u folks tell the freakin truth…none of ya’ll want your kids going to school with black kids…there, i said it..
Entitlement Society
January 30th, 2012
8:34 am
Laughing that GM and her governement owes us education mentality has given up, enrolled her kids in private school, and realized that public education is a crock. Welcome to the light side!
frustrated APS mom
January 30th, 2012
8:39 am
@ splitting a neighborhood – that is exactly where we were in the first round of maps – our street was the dividing line in one of the options. So stupid. They changed that this time around but now we are trying to absorb the middle school news. The more I look at the maps, the harder I find it to believe just how freaking huge the North Atlanta high school zone is now. And the North Atlanta middle school zone is much bigger than the Sutton zone. Too big. I know Kennedy Middle is slated to close – would those kids be rezoned into North Atlanta Middle? Anyone know?
frustrated APS mom
January 30th, 2012
8:43 am
@ wait and see – I also read up on Centennial Place. Did you see that it is a year round school? There is a recent write up on the APS website about them earning Title 1 status that gives some good background info – interesting little school. I still don’t think they would fit well geographically with North Atlanta though.
Parent concerned about entire school system
January 30th, 2012
8:44 am
Option B gerrymanders neighborhoods north and south of DeKalb Avenue on the holy grail of real estate speculation. Investors and gentrification advocates in Kirkwood want to boost their property values by forcing kids from one of the city’s most successful elementary school districts (Mary Lin) to cross an industrial road, a Marta line and three freight rail lines to attend Toomer. Then, they throw the less gentrified, southern portion of their own neighborhood under the bus by declaring the main street within their neighborhood, Hosea Williams, a “natural” dividing line (hello, Option B Supporter).
Just look at the map, Option A follows neighborhood lines (which are crucial for parental involvement), preserves Mary Lin, and preserves conditions for continuing progress at Toomer.
Horrible
January 30th, 2012
9:03 am
@seen it all:
‘Then we would have parity in education. There really would be “no child left behind.” The “middle class” families would be fighting to improve the school and as the saying goes “a rising tide lifts all boats.”’
This is a logical extension of the “other people’s money” mentality. Not content to take money out of the pockets of of those who earn it in the name of ‘justice’ and making those people ‘pay their fair share’, the middle class you despise would now have to go to bat to do the work you are unwilling or unable to do to improve your childrens’ schools.
AND they should do this while you insult them as being ‘arrogant’ and ’self righteous’. You have quite a bit of nerve, sir or madam.
Sherry Neal
January 30th, 2012
9:12 am
My name is Sherry Neal. I am a Lake Claire resident and mother of a five-year-old who attends Mary Lin Elementary and of a two-year-old. While I think that Option A has some flaws (our friends in Grant Park still have a split feeder system, and our friends at Morningside & SPARK are surely not happy with the shifts in their attendance boundaries), I believe it is a better plan from which to work. (Option B is, at least for the Grady cluster, essentially Option 4 from the last proposals, which was soundly rejected by every SRT (ranking last in SRTs 1, 3, and 4; third in SRT-2). I’m not sure why it has reappeared.)
The communities living in the Mary Lin attendance zone have made a firm commitment to our APS schools. According to the demographers, a minimal number of children in SRT-3 (definitely less than 12% and probably less than 10%) attend private schools. Of the elementary-aged children who attend public school, 96% in the Mary Lin zone attend Mary Lin (not charter schools and not schools in other zones). Mary Lin parents roll up their sleeves every day to maintain the environment of excellence at our school. (I personally volunteer a minimum of 5 hours at the school every week and more outside the school on behalf of the school.) Mary Lin has not had a renovation since 1994. We have never received SPLOST dollars. Our entire fourth and fifth grades are in portables outside the walls of the building. APS made a commitment to the Mary Lin community in terms of SPLOST dollars, first with SPLOST III and again with SPLOST IV. Again, we have made a commitment to APS. We ask that APS honor its commitment to our community. Option A keeps APS’s commitment; Option B does not.
Again, while Option A is not perfect, for our Mary Lin-Inman-Grady communities Option A meets every single one of the Superintendent’s priorities that are applicable to the Grady Cluster. (Some, like the ones referencing IB programs are not applicable.) Option B meets one of the top tier priorities (consistent feeder pattern) and only half of the second tier priorities. For example, it unacceptably splits our neighboring community of Kirkwood between two attendance zones.
All community members should be engaged in this process. They should use these proposals to identify positive aspects that work for our communities, schools, and children and as a springboard for discussions of what else needs to be done.
frustrated APS mom
January 30th, 2012
9:29 am
Something else to think about – what makes everyone think we can trust APS to actually expand and build in the way they say they will five years down the road? We all need to think about the LONG TERM effects of both of these options. Don’t just assume APS will do what they are telling us. We know better.
mydverey
January 30th, 2012
9:33 am
Hello there . Aim please . How to get boots Lisk ?
Regards, Stepan selyugin .
To Sherry Neal from GM
January 30th, 2012
9:36 am
Very well said. I appeciated your comments. It’s the dedication and hard work by citizens like you who make a community a good place to live. My fear is that even if great volunteers and parents like you go to Toomer, your hard work and dedication cannot impact the lack of integrity the Toomer staff and teachers have. Those same teachers who cheated and lied on the CRCT tests are still at Toomer. I wouldn’t trust them, as one poster said, as far as I could spit an anvil.
LC Mom
January 30th, 2012
9:36 am
I prefer Option A. Option B doesn’t address the overcrowding at Inman Middle, in fact, it makes it worse. We’re just asking for another redistricting in a couple of years if Option B goes through.
David Duncan
January 30th, 2012
9:40 am
I am all in for Option A. I do not want to see our neighborhood divided.
Intown parent
January 30th, 2012
9:44 am
I much prefer option A as it relates to the Mary Lin – Spark – Inman MS – Grady HS feeder group. Option A keeps successful elementary schools intact and builds the long-promised and much-needed renovation/expansion on Mary Lin. Option B ADDS territory to Inman MS which is irresponsible given current capacity issues. Schools need to be located where the students are. The Mary Lin, Spark, Inman MS communities have embraced their schools, sending 96% of public school students to their in-zone schools (rather than choosing charter, transfers, etc.). Investment is needed in these successful community schools to build on success and serve children where they live. SPLOST was supported by these communities, and the promised SPLOST funds for the Mary Lin addition are sorely needed. It is unfortuneate that there are partially empty school buildings in other parts of town. That is a result of students choosing charter, transfers and other options, over-building by the APS, and other complex forces, none of which are the “fault” of communities with triving,”bursing-at-the-seems” schools. Option A is preferred as it relates to SRT 3. This comment is not implied to address other issues in the north Atlanta/SRT 4 Cluster. Clearly, this is not a choice between A and B. Various aspects of each plan have merit and certainly additional features will be added to the next two interations.
Nancy
January 30th, 2012
9:46 am
Of the 2 options presented, Option A seems to be the only one that helps with the overcrowding at Inman and at Mary Lin. Option B has two glaring problems for me: 1) it basically cannibalizes Kirkwood, taking it’s school and just enough residents around it and uses it to relieve Mary Lin overcrowding. 2) It expands the zone of Coan (residents currently zoned for Coan already have the option to attend other schools based on it not meeting AYP–why would you take other kids and place them there? ).
To Entitlement Society from GM
January 30th, 2012
9:46 am
You write “Laughing that GM and her governement owes us education mentality has given up, enrolled her kids in private school, and realized that public education is a crock. Welcome to the light side!”
No, I haven’t given up on public education, not by a long shot. I have given up on the Atlanta Public School system. I registered my kids in a private school for next year until I can either sell my house and buy another in a better school district or rent my home and move into our other home, which is in a better school district.
A good, affordable public school education is necessary for democracy and I will gladly pay my share and more for others to make sure we have good, affordable, public schools. What I am unwilling to do is throw away my money at APS and throw my kids under the bus by allowing the cancer at Toomer’s Tumor to infect and destroy my child’s education.
Sorry to disappoint you but I will never be one of those “each educate only our own” and be selfish. All children deserve a good education.
frustrated APS mom
January 30th, 2012
9:55 am
Well, we certainly know how the Lin parents feel. They have come on here in full force. Why aren’t any of my fellow “South Buckhead” (as I guess we can be called now that APS has divided our zone north to south) neighbors on here posting about what they want? Maybe they are all busy this morning making sure their ducks are in a row with private school applications.
To frustrated APS mom from GM
January 30th, 2012
10:06 am
What neighborhoods do you consider “south buckhead”? You write “Maybe they are all busy this morning making sure their ducks are in a row with private school applications.”
I agree, that may be the case. My fear is that there are simply not enough spots in a private school for all of us who want out of APS. Any school takes a long time to add more space and staff.
JohnK
January 30th, 2012
10:07 am
I support Option A. As it relates to SRT3, Option A is clearly more aligned with Erroll Davis’ guiding principles.
-Option A keeps neighborhoods together, Option B divides neighborhoods (Kirkwood and others).
-Option A finally delivers APS’ expansion commitment to Mary Lin, keeping it as a K-5, thereby promoting walkability and community involvement. This is vital to academic success. Option B will have us in buses and cars, ineffieciently crossing major corridors, thereby reducing parental involvement.
-Option B does not appear to be sustainable over a 10-year period, primarily due to capacity issues at Inman Middle.
-Option B merges a high performing school (Mary Lin) with a lower performing school (Toomer).
Wait and see
January 30th, 2012
10:11 am
@vh3, I was not referring to Centennial leaving the Grady cluster as a win for Me. I was referring to how Me’s boundaries are now barely touched in these new options. In the previous options E Rivers was decimated, and so it continues in the new options. The demographers have consistently messed with E Rivers at will.
@critical thinker, sign me up for the audit. Great idea!
@liberal lefty, look at E Rivers demographics. My children already attend school with black and brown children. I believe it is the most diverse elementary school in the system. I don’t appreciate maps where my children’s established friendships are redrawn. In this option, they lose Johnny and Billy, or, in this option they lose Andy, Jimmy, and Bobby, and so on. My children find this upsetting, believe it or not. I am glad I don’t view everything through the prism of race like you obviously do.
@frustrated, yes, I have read up on Centennial. I think APS should expand their concept into a new middle school physically closer to Centennial. Surely some of these elementary schools they are considering closing could be repurposed into a middle school to relieve the overcrowding at Inman? Don’t smaller schools produce better results for disadvantaged students? Expecting those children to be bussed so far from their homes doesn’t seem like a fair solution. When are thes children supposed to do their homework?
Option A
January 30th, 2012
10:13 am
Option A is the ’smart’ choice. After careful review and study of all 4 choices then recently the new 2 scenerio keeping Mary Lin school K-5 serves the Inman, Candler, Lake Claire community best.
Wait and see
January 30th, 2012
10:13 am
As always, please excuse typos – iPad keyboards are a pain!
Not so bad
January 30th, 2012
10:14 am
Either A or B works, I prefer A but on the whole both options are better than the first 4. It’s a shame that neighborhoods are being pitted against each other though.
Wait and see
January 30th, 2012
10:20 am
@frustrated, not looking into private schools yet. Just classify me as frustrated, too. However, we haven’t had our meeting on these options yet. I anxiously waiting to see how that goes.
Wait and see
January 30th, 2012
10:27 am
That should be “am anxiously waiting”. I plan on getting there early. I imagine parking is going to be an issue, as our cluster is so overcrowded!
Andrew
January 30th, 2012
10:30 am
From a current Mary Lin perspective, Option A works, and works well. B splits Kirkwood neighbors into different schools, doesn’t address overcrowding in Inman, stretches the distance from home to school past walkable, and requires kids and parents who choose to walk to cross an already overcongested and very dangerous road (as well as a MARTA and highly active rail line).
Inman,Candler, Mary Lin - Together
January 30th, 2012
10:33 am
Option A honors the recent vote for SPLOST funds for the Mary Lin expansion and promotes a safe neighborhood commute. Option B diminishes our community by splitting our very young children with their siblings and creates a dangerous commute over a major corridor!
Intown parent
January 30th, 2012
10:35 am
Why is APS ignoring Centennial Place’s proposal for a K-8? It’s a legitimate proposal and APS should be pressured to consider it.
frustrated APS mom
January 30th, 2012
10:36 am
I think ALL of the meetings this week will be very well attended. And by “south Buckhead” I guess I mean the Brandon and Rivers parents and possibly the Garden Hills parents. Basically everyone except Jackson and Smith has something at stake in our cluster.
Mary Lin Home Owner
January 30th, 2012
10:43 am
I agree, OPTION ‘A’ keeps APS’s commitment; Option B does not.
We specifically moved to the Inman, Candler, Lake Claire area because of the school systems. We were willing to pay the higher home prices because of the reputation of success at Mary Lin. Option B would have our children split up, crossing a major and dangerous corridor to a school under investigation for cheating with a history of exceptionally poor performance. My wife and I also voted for SPLOST funds, which raises our taxes, but that is a cost we are willing to pay for the needed expansion of Mary Lin.
Again, Option A is a clear choice for us!
Mary Lin Home Owner
January 30th, 2012
10:44 am
I agree, OPTION ‘A’ keeps APS’s commitment; Option B does not.
We specifically moved to the Inman, Candler, Lake Claire area because of the school systems. We were willing to pay the higher home prices because of the reputation of success at Mary Lin. Option B would have our children split up and in a school under investigation for cheating with exceptionally poor performance. My wife and I also voted for SPLOST funds, which raises our taxes, but that is a cost we are willing to pay for the needed expansion of Mary Lin.
Again, Option A is a clear choice for us.
Mary Lin - Home Owner
January 30th, 2012
10:45 am
I agree, OPTION ‘A’ keeps APS’s commitment; Option B does not.
We specifically moved to the Inman, Candler, Lake Claire area because of the school systems. We were willing to pay the higher home prices because of the reputation of success at Mary Lin. Option B would have our children split up and in a school under investigation for cheating with exceptionally poor performance. My wife and I also voted for SPLOST funds, which raises our taxes, but that is a cost we are willing to pay for the needed expansion of Mary Lin.
Again, Option A is a clear choice for us.
Option A supporter
January 30th, 2012
10:46 am
I strongly support Option A. It keeps intact the Mary Lin/ Inman/ Grady cluster which has become a model of success through active parent involvement and strong community support. It has taken years, perhaps decades, to bring this to a prefered education path within APS, and ML parents have remained loyal to its neighborhood school despite overcrowding, portables, and misuse of SPLOST funds that were originally allocated to the school. I hope that most neighborhoods receive a solution which they find fair, without villifying and undermining attempts by other neighborhoods to protect a successful model that we have helped create over many years of support.
Option A - Really??? Splitting a Neighborhood!
January 30th, 2012
10:48 am
Smith in “South Buckhead,” too! Our neighborhood stands to be divided – we’ll be there.
Option A
January 30th, 2012
10:53 am
Option A gets my support! The neighborhoods of IP, CP and LC have a huge 94% attendance rate meaning: these folks send their children to the APS schools over private institutions and Charter schools. They deserve to remain intact and attending the schools in the feeder and current district.
Mom of one baby girl
January 30th, 2012
11:03 am
Option A seems to solve more problems. It gets my vote.
Cheating
January 30th, 2012
11:08 am
I really can’t see how APS can even consider moving forward with this redistricting while the cheating scandal has yet to be resolved. Toomer may be a wonderful school, but how do we really know? The principal was flatly implicated in the cheating scandal. Mary Lin was not involved. So, I can guarantee you one thing – if APS tries to send Lin kids down to Toomer – the whole process will be held up by lawsuits for years. There are good points for both options A and B, I personally like the cohesiveness of the neighborhoods on option A and like the fact that I won’t have to take my kindergarten age child to one school and my 3rd grader to yet another. I actually own 2 buildings in north Kirkwood and if option b goes through – my values and rents will go up significantly – but I still want option A – because I want what is best for my children, and that is for them to stay in their neighborhood school.
In the end, no matter which option is chosen – and especially if option B is chosen – we will need to come together to make sure that our schools continue to move forward and to make sure that we get rid of all of the teachers and administrators at Toomer who were implicated in the cheating scandal.
Option A - Really??? Splitting a Neighborhood!
January 30th, 2012
11:17 am
@ Option A – how in the world did you ever get “a huge 94% attendance rate” at any APS meeting from “the neighborhoods of IP, CP and LC?” Those neighborhoods are so large and not every property owner even has children. I would love to know how you all were able to rally 94% of the residents in such large, diverse neighborhoods to attend. Our tiny neighborhood has HUGE support, but I can’t imagine dragging out 94% of our neighbors to school meetings – the edlerly, landlords, etc. probably account for 10% of our neighborhood and then there are neighbors without children. How did you get all of them to attend? Please share your secret. We would love to get 94% attendance – that’s unprecendented!!
JohnK
January 30th, 2012
11:28 am
^ 94% of the kids in CP/IP/LC attend the APS schools in their zone. Meaning those families are committed to APS, and have worked hard to improve their schools. They chose that route instead of private school or charter school or out of zone transfers.
Option A - Really??? Splitting a Neighborhood!
January 30th, 2012
11:32 am
Thanks, JohnK for clarifying. Now can anyone help us drum up ways to get neighbors out of their houses to the meeting? Meaning, those neighbors who don’t have kids? We need all of the support we can get!!
Good Point from GM
January 30th, 2012
11:33 am
Inman, Candler, LC Together makes a very good point. I hadn’t even thought of. The writer reminds us that “Option B diminishes our community by splitting our very young children with their siblings and creates a dangerous commute over a major corridor!”
Imagine parents having to commute from Lin to drop off and then to Toomer. The proposed k-1at lin and /2-5 at Toomer is a weird idea. Most people have children about two years apart. K-5 models work for a lot of reasons and some of them are that parents want and kids should go to school with their siblings. By dividing the family into two schools, one creates a fubar.
Just to try it out I went to Toomer today during the morning rush hour. I completely circled the school to discover all entryways. There is already a back up of traffic of cars trying to turn left to get to Toomer elementary. As I drove around the other side of Toomer, there is a narrow road with a few houses and a dead end, meaning, there is very little access to Toomer except by a congested, backed up street on one side of the school. Even if we cure the cancer of cheating at Toomer by firing every single teacher and staff member at Toomer and replaced them with an honest and educated teacher, I don’t see logistically how we can cram all the traffic from the Lin community into Toomer, they’d have to level some homes and build a few entryways and that would take quite a while.
I also carefully reviewed the areas of Whiteford and Coan. Coan, especially, looked so dismal it was heartbreaking. I didn’t see a single smile. If option B is selected, it would be so easy to take the 3 communities of Lin,Inman/Claire and force them further South to Coan to Middle school and Jackson high school.
Concerned Citizen
January 30th, 2012
11:36 am
If it is so crowded on the northside of town, why arent the lines being redrawn to alleviate the congestion. Especially since a lot of the other schools are way under capacity. Seems to me that the lines need to be pushed north.
@Cheating
January 30th, 2012
11:39 am
The principal at Toomer was not there when the cheating occured, she was at Centennial Place where there was no cheating. She is an amazing administrator,and Toomer is a wonderful school- my daughter attends there and is in second grade. She has Mandarin Chinese 4 days a week- she misses 1 day because she is in the challenge program-she has violin 1 day a week and an after school art program on Tuesdays. We have an organic garden and chefs come in and work with the kids to pick the ingredients for their cooking demonstrations. The teachers get grants and the kids do great semester long projects and then get to show them off in front of the different organizations. I understand how you feel about your school, and I am not advocating for either option- I just ask that you not write about something you do not know about- like the fact that the old principal has been gone for 2 1/2 years.