MPS Votes to Sell Surplus Buses, Several Board Members Unsatisfied With Intervention
At a specially called meeting Wednesday, Montgomery School board members met to vote on the sale of surplus school buses to city and county agencies.
The sale of surplus buses, was tabled at a February 13th meeting after board members disagreed with the price tag of the buses being sold to city and county agencies. Montgomery school board members voted to sell a total of 8 surplus buses to the parks and recreation department to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office for $2,500 dollars each.
The price is significantly shy of the 6-8 thousand dollar market value, but board members ultimately agreed the price difference would be made up by the in-kind services the agencies provide to the school system; such as police presence at extra curricular activities and the use of Cramton Bowl for football games.
The school bus issue was not the only also carried over from the last school board meeting, board members’ attitudes towards the overall intervention process were also consistent with the previous meeting .
Board President, Robert Porterfield was one of several board members at the specially called meeting, calling for more local input in the state intervention process.
“We have zero collaboration, with Dr. Ed Richardson” explained Porterfield “as a matter of fact I would say General Ed Richardson because he is the real dictator”.
Porterfield says the board has not met with state interim superintendent Ed Richardson since he laid out his financial and academic plans for MPS earlier this month. The plan included closing four schools.
Montgomery Co. School Board interim superintendent Dr. Anne Moore, also spoke out on the boards’ understanding of their role in the intervention process. “I wouldn’t say that the board does not understand the role of intervention,but it still does not mean that they necessarily agree with everything” she said.
The next board meeting is scheduled for March 27th at 5:00 p.m. at Southlawn Elementary School.
Officials have released this information regarding the 4 school closings:
PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS/REZONING – ALL BEGIN AT 6:00 P.M.
- MARCH 20 @ DOZIER ELEMENTARY
- MARCH 21 @ CHISHOLM ELEMENTARY
- MARCH 22 @ FLOYD ELEMENTARY
- MARCH 26 @ GEORGIA WASHINGTON
THE SAME INFORMATION WILL BE PRESENTED AT ALL FOUR MEETINGS. ONLINE TOOLS FOR PARENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE PRIOR TO THOSE MEETINGS. MORE INFORMATION ON ACCESSING THOSE TOOLS WILL BE PROVIDED WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE. WE EXPECT THAT TO BE ON OR ABOUT MARCH 9.
