GREENSBORO, N.C. — Two big developments came out of Tuesday night's school board meeting in Guilford County.
One of them has to do with parent's involvement in what their children learn.
The other deals with efforts to close several schools.
School Closures
Wiley, Murphey, and Archer Elementary Schools, and Swann Middle School will close while five new schools will open.
Elementary students at the closing schools will go to Peck and Foust.
They are currently under construction and will re-open in 2025.
Middle school students will go to Kiser and Mendenhall, new schools also expected to open during the upcoming school year.
This is all a part of the school district's 2019 facilities master plan to rebuild 22 schools.
You may remember when a tornado hit Greensboro in April 2018 and destroyed three schools. Erwin Montessori is one of them and since the tornado, students have been at Alamance Elementary. Archer Elementary is to be renovated so it can become home to those students because it has limited the enrollment rates at Alamance Elementary.
Peeler Elementary and Hampton Elementary are the two other schools that have closed after being ruined in the tornado.
Here’s why the district said they chose to close these schools.
"It was the age and condition of our facilities as well as the small enrollment transportation and being more efficient with the community’s tax dollars," Julius Monk, Guilford County Schools shared.
The district will assign students to the new schools based on where they live, but there is a choice program that students can apply for. School board members express concerns.
"They need to be able to go straight through. Without having to apply again for their own school," school board member Khem Irby said.
School board member Michael Logan said, "we seem to be focusing on new instead of fixing and repairing."
This is just a recommendation on Dec. 12 the school board will allow the public to voice their opinions before making a final vote.
Parents' Bill of Rights
The school district also approved several policies to align with new state law called the 'Parents' Bill of Rights'.
All North Carolina public schools must align with the new rules.
The lengthy updates include clarifying language around parent communication related to behavior, attendance, crime, and instruction material.
It also requires the district to get parents' permission before administering medication or allowing students to take part in surveys.
Parental consent is also needed if a student wants to go by a different pronoun or name.
It bans schools from discussing gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality to kindergarten through 4th graders.
One parent spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting requesting more clarity on some of these topics.
"If there are student-initiated questions regarding sexuality or gender what would be the procedure for handling those questions? Are books about sexuality, gender, or pronouns in the library on in the teacher's shelves considered support materials? This policy is a little too vague," a GCS parent asked.
The school district will have a full layout of these new policies on its website.
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