The board could be placed in the position of having to create racially isolated schools. Ridiculous, declares County Commissioner Walt Cockerham, a Republican. That's completely unfounded. All parents, black and white, want small, neighborhood schools.
Studies show that's where children get the best education.
And that's what county commissioners are going to try to give them, Cockerham said. The board rejected the school board's request because it called for closing two neighborhood schools, Sternberger and Wiley, and sending their children to Lindley and Peck, two elementary schools that would be greatly enlarged under the school board's plan. Come back with a plan that does not eliminate small, neighborhood schools, commissioners told school board members. We have to use some common sense. The public is not going to stand for closing schools when we have such a need for space.