[2/10/04]Four members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors have joined nearly 90 percent of public school teachers who expressed an opinion in calling for new elementary school attendance zones.

The support, which is advisory only, came Monday after Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent James Price presented a plan and his findings.

Price, who was hired by the district’s five trustees in July, won a 3-2 endorsement last fall from school board members to explore “community schools.”

“I’m just trying to gather information,” said District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, who is board president. He declined to take a position.

Other board members were enthusiastic, noting the plan had the backing of teachers.

“These people are professionals in education, and they should know,” said Richard George, District 5 supervisor.

David McDonald of District 1, said new mega-elementaries on Sherman Avenue and Dana Road are both fine facilities. “But they are not neighborhood schools,” he said.

District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield, also a veteran PTA president and who was named parent of the year in the district, endorsed the fact-finding effort.

“He’s doing the right thing (by) taking it to the community,” Mayfield said. “The No. 1 thing to do is to listen to what the community has to say.”

“I think it is a great idea,” said District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders, a school teacher before his election last fall. “If this is what the community wants,” it’s the right way to go, he said. “The process will bear fruit.

With $34 million in state and local funding six years ago, the district built the new schools and received required federal approval to shift away from attendance zones.

For the past five years, parents in north and south districts have had their choice of three K-4 schools with all fifth- and sixth-graders attending either Sherman Avenue or Dana Road. There has also been one countywide magnet elementary, Bowmar Avenue.

The move to school choice was due to increasing racial imbalances and under choice enrollments have been balanced administratively.

A change back to zones would also require federal approval and racial balancing.

Price wants eight community-based schools for grades K-6 which would require building a new elementary school inside the City of Vicksburg. Bowmar would remain a magnet.

Price told the supervisors he will be starting the phase in which details will be presented to the public for voluntary response.

No added cost or savings figures or deadline for decision have been made public. The two trustees voting against studying the plan have declined public comment. In a letter to the editor Sunday, former District 3 Trustee Pearline Williams said the choice-based plan has not been given enough time for an honest evaluation.