School plan meet set
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INDEPENDENCE — Residents of Independence and Amite will have a chance to discuss an impending school desegregation plan with school officials later this month, an organizer said Friday.
After a series of rousing community meetings in Kentwood, Loranger and Pumpkin Center in recent months about the plan, organizer John Polito Jr. said Independence and Amite residents are invited to learn about it at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Independence City Hall.
School Board members, officials and their attorneys have been working on the plan behind closed doors for months as public concern has intensified. The proposal is due for submission to a federal judge in New Orleans on Sept. 19.
School officials have exposed only the plan’s broad strokes, including new schools, magnet programs and attendance zone changes. But they have not offered precise specifics, such as how zones would change, a concern for many parents.
Polito said he and others oppose plans being proposed in the Loranger community to build a large high school that would pull up to 100 students each from Amite and Independence high schools.
Polito said that plan, which he said board member Sandra Bailey-Simmons has proposed, would cut into an already small high school in Independence, reducing state and local funding tied to enrollment.
“I want to let the people know we support our school system, and we’re not just going to let somebody come into here and take 100 kids from us and, me personally, I don’t think 100 kids from Independence want to go to Loranger,” Polito said.
Bailey-Simmons said she and other Loranger residents never intended to close Independence or Amite high schools with their proposal and are working on modifications, possibly moving the school site toward the west to better serve Loranger, Amite and Independence.
Leonard “Tank” Genco Jr., who represents the Independence area, has opposed closing schools but would work on an equitable solution.
Bailey-Simmons said Polito and others had nothing to worry about because the board is not supporting the plan as proposed and said the school system long ago needed to expand curriculum offerings parishwide.
Independence City Hall is located at 473 W. Railroad Ave., Independence.
After a series of rousing community meetings in Kentwood, Loranger and Pumpkin Center in recent months about the plan, organizer John Polito Jr. said Independence and Amite residents are invited to learn about it at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Independence City Hall.
School Board members, officials and their attorneys have been working on the plan behind closed doors for months as public concern has intensified. The proposal is due for submission to a federal judge in New Orleans on Sept. 19.
School officials have exposed only the plan’s broad strokes, including new schools, magnet programs and attendance zone changes. But they have not offered precise specifics, such as how zones would change, a concern for many parents.
Polito said he and others oppose plans being proposed in the Loranger community to build a large high school that would pull up to 100 students each from Amite and Independence high schools.
Polito said that plan, which he said board member Sandra Bailey-Simmons has proposed, would cut into an already small high school in Independence, reducing state and local funding tied to enrollment.
“I want to let the people know we support our school system, and we’re not just going to let somebody come into here and take 100 kids from us and, me personally, I don’t think 100 kids from Independence want to go to Loranger,” Polito said.
Bailey-Simmons said she and other Loranger residents never intended to close Independence or Amite high schools with their proposal and are working on modifications, possibly moving the school site toward the west to better serve Loranger, Amite and Independence.
Leonard “Tank” Genco Jr., who represents the Independence area, has opposed closing schools but would work on an equitable solution.
Bailey-Simmons said Polito and others had nothing to worry about because the board is not supporting the plan as proposed and said the school system long ago needed to expand curriculum offerings parishwide.
Independence City Hall is located at 473 W. Railroad Ave., Independence.
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