Sandy Springs parents fight to save Spalding Drive Elementary

A proposal to close Spalding Drive Elementary School as early as next year has prompted community members to organize a petition and attend various Fulton County Schools meetings in protest.

FCS staff presented their study of enrollment numbers and the age and condition of their schools during the Board of Education's work session on Sept. 10. In the Sandy Springs area, the report specifically excluded Spalding Drive Elementary School from closure because of low enrollment numbers and the dilapidated condition of the 1966 building.

Currently, 349 students are enrolled, but according to the FCS report, the plan is to enroll 550 students.

Opponents of the closure point out that data from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) shows that Spalding Drive consistently performs better than neighboring schools on key academic metrics.

According to the group's arguments, the school is also more ethnically diverse than other elementary schools in Sandy Springs.

Mayor Rusty Paul said during his State of the City address Tuesday that the closure proposal has been a hot topic in Sandy Springs.

“It took a lot of hard work to finally remodel and renovate North Springs High School, and just as we were finishing that, we learned that Spalding Drive Elementary was on the brink,” commented Paul.

Paul said one of the criteria is the number of students and the other is the condition of the school. He said if the condition of the school is not good, then it is a sign that the school board has not invested in the facilities as it should have.

“When you lose those values ​​in your community, it's devastating. It's devastating for the children. It's devastating for the parents,” Paul said.

Parents started a petition on Change.org that had more than 1,550 signatures as of Tuesday evening. A Save Spalding Drive Elementary website has been created where parents and other community members can access the petition, resources, upcoming events and discussion points.

Parents had planned to attend FCS board member Michelle Morancie's community meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Woodland Elementary School, 1130 Spalding Drive.

The next FCS board meeting will be held on Sept. 19 at the South Learning Center, 4025 Flat Shoals Road, in Union City. Public comments, which will not be live-streamed or recorded, will begin at 6 p.m.

The issue sparked numerous public comments at the Sandy Springs City Council meeting Tuesday night.

Nicole Motahari said Spalding is more than a community, it is a cornerstone of the community. Her gifted teacher at Spalding inspired her to become a teacher and now she teaches English at North Springs High.

Susan Story said she moved to Sandy Springs from Gwinnett County three years ago. Her two children were numbers in Gwinnett's system and their principal didn't know them. Her son was a “COVID kindergartener,” but he didn't learn to read or write, despite having to use Zoom and a laptop to learn. In Spalding, her son got the remedial help and tutoring he needed to learn to read and write. Now, as a fourth-grader, he gets straight A's.

“I can say 100 percent that this only happened because of Spalding Drive Elementary and the teachers there,” Story said.

The mayor advised parents to present their arguments for opening Spalding Drive to the school board using data and facts.