(The Center Square) — The Caddo Parish School Board voted to close three schools this week, which sparked an emotional response from citizens in the community.
Since the beginning of the month, members of the school board have discussed the potential closure of Queensborough Elementary, Blanchard Elementary, and Eighty-First Street ECE in hopes of producing a potential savings of between $750,000 to $1 million each year.
In Tuesday’s school board meeting, members voted to close the three schools.
“I do understand that change can be hard,” said School Board President Jasmine Green. “When I first got on the board, we had 42,000 children in Caddo. We’re now down to 33,000. That’s a lot of students. That’s a lot of money. You can’t continue to run a school system and have 150 kids.”
Green supported the school closures as the next step for the community.
The legislation prompted citizens from across the community to fill the chambers as they stepped up to the podium, expressing emotional concerns over the closures during the three-hour meeting.
“When a school closes, it not only directly impacts the children, parents, and families it serves but also serves as a loss to an entire community,” resident Kimberley Jones said.
Students at the closed schools will be integrated into other schools.
“Regardless of you making academies, closing schools, merging schools, relocating students, if you have not a solid plan to meet the needs of every child you are impacting, then you’re doing us all a disadvantage,” said Jon Glover. “It is necessary that we indeed ensure that every child is met with resources that can change the dynamics of where they are today.”
While residents in attendance did not support the closure of the three schools, some understood from the financial standpoint.
“I hate to see Queensborough close, but from a financial aspect, I can understand it,” said resident Alvin Oliver.
The board voted to close Queenborough with eight supporting, three opposed, and one member abstained. Students from this school will go to J.S. Clark Academy at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
Blanchard Elementary will also close at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, with students being consolidated with Donnie Bickham Middle Elementary. The school will then be Donnie Bickham Elementary Middle School. This motion carried with 11 in support and one opposed.
The board voted for closing Eighty-First Street ECE, with 10 in support and two opposed. The school will close at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, and students will be assigned to Atkins Elementary.
Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
