'They Clearly Don't Care About the Children In South DeKalb'

Connie Boone was near tears Monday night following the DeKalb County School Board's decision to close eight schools, including in East Atlanta, where she is vice president of the Parent Teachers Association.

The board's 7-2 vote, which also means will shutter its doors, came as hundreds of parents came to the meeting. About a dozen spoke, advocating for their schools to remain open open.

The closures come as the district seeks ways to cut $12.5 million a year by consolidating schools and redistricting about 7,000 students.

Originally, the county looked at closing 14 schools through two plans that would have affected 12,900 or 16,100 students.

Boone, who said she is considering legal action to block the vote, plans to put her two grandchildren in private school if that effort is unsuccessful.

She noted children from South DeKalb county will bear the brunt of the closures despite Distrct 3 board member Sarah Copelin-Woood's proposal to amend the plan to keep Sky Haven open.

"They clearly don't care about children in South DeKalb," Boone said, noting North DeKalb parents obtained a lot of the concessions they sought.

Copelin-Wood's amendment proposal also called for keeping Gresham Park Elementary open but it did not get majority support from the school board to pass.