As my neighborhood continues its struggles with the Fayette County Board of Education, I continually meet other citizens who are shocked to hear of our plight. As voters and taxpayers, it is essential that each and every parent with a child in the Fayette County Public School system know the details. As you read our story, ask yourself two questions: Where is the accountability? Where is the fiscal responsibility?

I don’t know if you are aware of the issues of redistricting in PTC. The Fayette County BOE had said last fall that they would redistrict due to overcrowding at the elementary level. We are currently at Peachtree City Elementary and have 10 trailers. Our lunches start at 10:30 a.m. to get everyone fed. Kedron Elementary is less than a mile away and has six empty classrooms.

The BOE presented a plan, which our neighborhood (Pinegate) supported. The BOE held a meeting at Booth to hear from the community. We did not attend and were led to believe that it was only for those opposed to the plan. It was never presented otherwise.

We (our neighborhood) had e-mailed the BOE voicing our support. Janet Smola was the only one to respond back in detail. She expressed her concern that we weren’t at the meeting. We explained that we were led to believe it was only for those opposing the plan. She said that the BOE hadn’t heard from Pinegate.

So we started an e-mail campaign to let them know we supported the plan. We offered to gather a petition showing all the support in Pinegate and Janet told us it wasn’t necessary. We got an e-mail back from her stating that “we hear Pinegate loud and clear”. She told us that she thought Pinegate would “be pleased” with the board’s decision.

Imagine how shocked we were when the BOE said they were going to do nothing. We understand that Wilshire Estates had a huge turnout and had strong opposition to the plan. In their case, the redistricting was a bad idea. However, that doesn’t fix the problems on the north end. PTCE is still overcrowded and will be worse next year while Kedron sits with empty classrooms.

Pinegate’s position all along was move us, move Centennial, move SOMEBODY! Just fix the problem. It doesn’t make sense. Pinegate offered to move for a year if we got a bus, just to fix the overcrowding for one year; knowing that the next year our children could be moved back to PTCE. We’re not trying to be difficult, we just see no reason that kids should be in trailers and have a larger class size when there are empty classrooms less than a mile away.

We also told the board that we would voluntarily move if they could give us a bus. Janet Smola said: “As a school board member I’d have to question what we’d do if a bus load of kids signed up from one neighborhood to move. I’d hate to have all those cars lined up to drop kids off. Of course, the board’s policy is voluntary transfers to other schools requires self transport, anything otherwise sets a difficult precedent ... but ... let’s see what happens.”

I think the BOE dropped this in the parents’ laps, depending on us to solve their problem. Janet Smola wrote: “We believe that enough people will apply for voluntary relocation that the population at PCE will be alleviated.”

That fixes the problem for the BOE but doesn’t address our concerns. We have repeatedly asked for a meeting with Dr. DeCotis and the board. Neither will even meet with us to discuss a possible resolution. These are elected officials refusing to meet with a neighborhood of parents who vote.

Where is the accountability?

To say that our neighborhood is frustrated is an understatement. We were told not to petition, promised a plan and then were given nothing.

As a taxpayer and voter, I find it hard to believe that that this is fiscally responsible. Adding more trailers when there are empty classrooms less than a mile away doesn’t make sense. Surely, one bus is much more economical than bringing in more trailers and hiring teachers to meet the needs of the overcrowding.

Julie Karneboge
Peachtree City, Ga.

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