[1/29/04]Backed by the 89 percent of teachers who voiced an opinion, Superintendent James Price says he’ll now take the case for community schools to residents of Vicksburg and Warren County.

“I don’t want just a sampling of the community,” Price said Wednesday. “I want the community to come forth and tell me what they want.”

Price visited each of the Vicksburg Warren district’s 13 schools, and, after discussing the proposal, asked teachers to vote.

The results were:

548 for the proposal

66 against it, and

59 voting no preference.

“I’m excited that the teachers have given me the go-ahead to go to the next level,” Price said.

Price was hired by the five elected school board trustees to manage the 9,000-student district in July. By a 3-2 vote, the trustees gave him permission to study abandoning most of the choice-based plan for elementaries in place for five years. Community schools would have individual attendance zones or districts.

“We have a lot of work over the next 2 1/2 or three weeks to find out what the community thinks,” he said. “Every member of this community has a vested interest in what we do.”

Price said ballots will be printed in local news outlets. He said he is also relying on people to hand out ballots to businesses and industries. Ballots will also be sent home with students.

“I want these ballots to be everywhere at real estate offices; outside Wal-Mart,” he said. “Everybody needs to have access to the ballots and be able to have their say.

“If you have questions, call your child’s teacher or principal, call anyone who works in the school system.”

The proposal includes:

Building a new elementary inside city limits;

Opening Bovina as an elementary;

Returning all elementaries to K-6 schools; and

Redrawing district lines to ensure racial balance.

Under the choice-based approach, five community elementaries were closed in 1999 and K-4 students began attending one of three elementary schools in north and south zones with the exception of Bowmar Avenue, which draws students from both zones. All fifth- and sixth-graders attend one of the two schools built for the choice-based plan, Sherman Avenue or Dana Road.

If the community accepts the proposal, the matters will be up to trustees and, if OK’d, then to the U.S. Justice Department.

Trustee President Kay Aasand said she wasn’t surprised that teachers voted in favor of the switch. She came into office in 1999, just after choice was implemented.

“From day 1, people have said We need to go back to neighborhood schools,'” she said. “And I said, I think we at least need to at least give School Choice a chance.'”

Judy Williams is theme coordinator at Redwood Elementary School and has been with the district since before the change to school choice.

“I like the school choice plan because it gives parents a choice, makes the schools a little more competitive and helps with the racial balance,” she said.

No cost figure has been made public for the change to community schools, but substantial savings on transportation are estimated, though Price said that’s not a factor. Also, no firm decision date has been announced.

Results at each school (for-against-no preference):

Beechwood Elementary, 50-5-7.

Redwood Elementary, 40-3-3.

Sherman Avenue, 45-9-9.

Warrenton Elementary, 41-1-6.

South Park Elementary, 45-0-5.

Warren Central Intermediate, 28-19-2.

Warren Central Junior High, 33-2-1.

Warren Central High School, 61-6-8.

Vicksburg High School, 47-1.

Vicksburg Junior High School, 41-2-3.

Bowmar Avenue Elementary, 24-2-6.

Vicksburg Intermediate, 39-5-5.

Dana Road Elementary, 54-11-3.