The superintendent and his team have made the recommendation that Summerhill be zoned to Parkside Elementary, and Peoplestown be zoned to Benteen Elementary. This recommendation was voted on and approved by the APS Board. The APS BOARD VOTE that APPROVED this measure will give 447 CHILDREN the opportunity to move from UNDER-PERFORMING Cook Elementary and D.H. Stanton Elementary Schools, to PERFORMING SCHOOLS. In effect, changing the educational future for these kids RIGHT NOW! After all our children have been through with APS, why should they have to wait on future promises, when they can have a BETTER EDUCATION....RIGHT NOW???!!!

ANYBODY THAT WOULD SPEAK OR VOTE AGAINST THIS NEEDS TO BE REMOVED FROM SPEAKING FOR THE CHILDREN OF OUR COMMUNITY FOR NOW AND FOREVER!!!

SO ROLL YOUR SLEAVES UP AND CHECK YOURSELF INTO AN INSANE ASYLUM... BUT SUMMERHILL REFUSES TO CHECK IN WITH YOU!!

Have a great day... And I will be praying for your children's future!

David Mitchell
Summerhill Resident for 11 years with kids in public schools RIGHT NOW!!!!

As a Summerhill resident, this is an unacceptable reason for placing our neighborhood into D.H. Stanton's district. In some parts of Summerhill, Parkside is the closer option. The argument of spreading student distribution to increase enrollment at underenrolled schools is not happening in other parts of the city. For instance, look at Mary Lin and Inman Middle in which a part of the current district could have been rezoned to nearby Whitefoord and Coan to ease crowding (both are underenrolled and lower performing). Did this happen? NO! Further, Supt. Davis said that he would not send send students from a performing school to an underperforming school. However, Summerhill is now facing being moved from a closing underperforming school (Cook) to one of the lowest ranked schools in the state (Stanton) after being told that we would be zoned to Parkside. It is unfair to our children and clearly not in keeping with how APS treated other neighborhoods. We will not stand for it. Our children deserve better!

It's not a matter of distance. It's a matter of quality education that is available to our neighborhood children NOW, not later.

Just to bring up a comparison. (I'm really not interested in flogging a dead horse.) Mary Lin sits right next to Coan. They were not put into Coan at this point in time despite serious overcrowding at Inman. There is room for them in the Jackson Cluster, but the decision was made to keep them at Inman because Coan isn't doing as well as Inman and because of the Superintendent's belief that the neighborhoods surrounding Coan haven't invested enough in the school, therefore making it difficult to justify the move.

I find it ridiculous that APS would send Summerhill children from Cook to D. H. Stanton, a worse performing school, after telling Mary Lin students that they would not send them to Cohen because it is worse performing. So what is the only difference here? Hmmm. Can you see the difference? It is as clear as black and white.

This move only makes sense if you are the district and at-large Board member. This was done for political reasons: re-election to their seats. I think they both will find themselves with heavy opposition come election time, and good riddance. None of the current Board members have fulfilled their main function- oversight of the system- but they have managed to insert themselves into areas they are not qualified to manage, like rezoning the schools. The gerry-mandered Parkside zone zigzags at its southern boundary to include the district member's house and those of her neighbors, for no apparent logical reason. Yet, Summerhill is used as a political pawn to save a building rather than to adequately educate its children.

What was the zoned school for Summerhill before all this redistricting?

Dina - Summerhill is currently zoned to Cook Elementary which is closing.

Dina...SummerHill is currently zoned to BOTH D. H. Stanton and Cook. Just getting the facts straight here folks.

Apologies...I was actually told by a SummerHill resident a small portion was zoned to Stanton. I think that this just goes to show that most do not attend their zoned school. I think it's a shame people are putting so much effort on getting themselves away from poor performing schools and not doing what it takes to achieve success within their own community school. I applaud those who are rolling up their sleeves...glad to know their aware still people in this world who know what it means to work hard rather than just deserving a handout.

It's just a detail but actually part of Peoplestown was zoned to Cook (sections of Atlanta Ave and the south side of Ormond). Pretty sure all of Summerhill was zoned for Cook. Now I believe all of Peoplestown is zoned for Stanton (at least if the latest 'final' proposal is adopted).

I resent the fact that certain Peoplestown residents are accusing Summerhill residents of looking for a "handout" when they do not even send their own children to their neighborhood school and have only recently started advocating for it. As for Summerhill, we do not have a "neighborhood school." It was closed and torn down in 2000. Our children were then moved to Cook and are now faced with moving to yet another underperforming school. Demanding that your children have a quality education NOW as opposed to 5 years from now (about the time it would take to get Stanton up to par in a perfect world) is not asking for a "handout." Let's stop the name calling and accusations.

Rachel...I apologize if my comment above upset you. I am deeply saddened that two historically tied neighborhoods are being ripped apart because of the redistricting process. I can clearly see both sides of this fence, but my point is that there are other under enrolled schools in SE Atlanta that continue to have the opportunity to increase their student population and improve their schools. Those communities banded together and are making it happen. Improving all our schools will make our area a much better place to live for many. I hope that no matter what happens in the end both SummerHill and Peoplestown can come together and make a difference that will only benefit the greater Grant Park area. Collaboration is key. Good luck to you all!

Not upset -- I know there are many strong viewpoints and I'm very heartened to see neighborhoods coming together to work toward better schools for our children. I hope the BOE can find a way out of this mess that meets the needs of both neighborhoods and the Jackson cluster as a whole. I just hate to see the extremes coming out in the argument, i.e. Peoplestown = more concerned about an empty building than education vs. Summerhill=doesn't want to work toward making community schools stronger. Neither are true! I'm hopeful that both neighborhoods can come back together again stronger and more united than before.

Rachel, that's a great comment. It's important to look at most comments through the internet filter. People will say things online that they'll never face to face. And people that don't have strong opinions aren't usually the people that bother to comment. You don't see a lot of comments online that say, 'I really see your point'....it's very easy to devolve into, 'you're a jerk...no, 'you're a jerk'. I sent an email to the presidents of PNA and ONS saying they should try to keep the hyperbole down. The truth is P'town and S'hill have the same goals 99% of the time and neither of us will be the decision makers. We're both at the mercy of APS. We need to stick together because we're both small communities and we both tend the get the leftover crumbs after other neighborhoods get the loaf.