JBeukema
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Top School Flunks Budget Test - WSJ.comAcademy Heights Elementary boasts a 98% pass rate on state exams, has an award-winning math program, and is ranked the second-best kindergarten-to-fifth-grade school in North Carolina. Yet it is slated to close at the end of the school year. Moore County Schools Superintendent Susan Purser said shutting down the school and sending its 265 children to nearby campuses was a "painful last resort" to close an $8.2 million budget gap.
Academy Heights parents have launched a website and a Facebook page, jammed school board meetings and overrun radio talk shows to beg, often tearfully, for a reprieve. They say their school should be a model, not a victim of budget cuts. "Whatever special sauce they are using, we should all sift through the ingredients," said Lisa Hagadorn, parent of a fourth-grader at the school.
By what reasoning does it make sense to shut down one of your best schools?