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LETTER: Magnet proposal needs more discussion

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Staff

Timing of the opening of the dual-language magnet school needs further evaluation and consideration.

I am the parent of a student in the traditional education program at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School (FPG). My fourth-grader will start Culbreth Middle School prior to the redistricting process and will not feel the ramifications of the dismantling of FPG’s community should the dual-language proposal pass. However, I have a 4-year-old daughter, and she will be affected.

We moved to Carrboro in 2008, and our family has been very involved at FPG. Caroline has been at events at FPG since she was 8 months old. We are part of the FPG family and don’t want that to change. If FPG becomes a dual-language magnet school, she will go to a different school instead of the one across the street from our neighborhood because she has a pragmatic speech delay. She receives great services through Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ Early Intervention Program, but the chances that she would be ready to learn a second language starting in kindergarten are slim. Therefore, she will not be eligible for the lottery, nor would we want to take the place of a child that would benefit from a dual-language program.

We’ve worked hard to improve FPG, and under the tremendous leadership of Dr. Rita Bongarten, Mrs. Crystal Epps and our dedicated faculty, our school is in better shape than ever. We were encouraged by the school district and school board to stay at FPG. We stayed at FPG when we were given other choices. Now we may be evicted from our school by the same district that urged us to stay. Is this the reward that comes with hard work and dedication? Where is the district’s commitment to a multicultural school that is closing the achievement gap?

Elementary school 11 is scheduled to open in 2013. This seems like a natural time and place to open a new magnet school. Instead of disbanding a school, move the minority of students from FPG and the other schools that have CHOSEN the dual-language program to a new facility. Move just a few teachers instead of distributing the majority of a faculty throughout the district or worse yet, lose strong teachers to other districts. Redistricting is stressful enough, so careful consideration should allow for the least disruptive plan possible. A dual-language magnet school may be an answer to our district’s needs, but making FPG the magnet school is not THE answer.

Sally Goodnight
Carrboro

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