Porter Elementary parents fear loss of services, staff, community at district closure meeting

The Bibb County school district held an open discussion at Porter Elementary Tuesday night to discuss possibly shutting down the school.

Under the district’s proposal, students from Porter would be re-routed to Heard and Skyview Elementary.

Parents and teachers packed the school’s cafeteria and asked about what would happen to their students, ESOL (English to speakers of other languages) services and staff.

Roughly 40% of Porter’s population is Hispanic, according to GaDOE, and many parents wondered how ESOL services and staff would translate to other schools. 

Superintendent Dan Sims said staff would have the opportunity to follow kids to the schools they get transferred to, but parents and teachers had concerns about culture.

Alex Perez, Porter’s front desk clerk, told school officials that Hispanic students might face adversity at other elementary schools, and no other elementary school has a strong Hispanic community like Porter.

He said Porter is uniquely equipped to help students who struggle with English because of staff, the emphasis on helping ESOL students and the school’s intangible “dynamic.”

“I really hope that they might see how strong we are as a community,” he said. “We are a really strong and united community that just won’t take no for an answer.”

The school district went to LH Williams last week to also hear from the community about the impact of a closure, the first stop in a series of similar meetings at schools identified for consolidation.

This time around, the school district provided a more specific look into the criteria used to pick schools ripe for closure, noting the school’s tight capacity and high per-pupil spending. 

All three schools being considered for consolidation are also on the Promise Scholarship list, meaning they fall into the bottom 25% of schools under state evaluation metrics. 

While Porter fell into the category of schools that were possibly going to be consolidated — as opposed to likely — it was listed as one of three closure options because nearby Heard and Skyview have the capacity to take on more students.

“All I hear is passion,” said superintendent Dan Sims. “It means a lot to come out and hear your concerns and capture your concerns.”

Deborah Hammock, who has been a paraprofessional at Porter for 15 years, said the school has a reputation among Hispanic families for being able to serve their kids well. She said families from Guatemala send their children specifically to Porter.

Hammock said while she struggled to communicate with students when she first arrived at Porter, she has found ways to “listen with the heart” and build lasting relationships with students.

“I’ve seen two children in high school that came through my class here [at this meeting],” she said. “It’s a very important staple for them in this community, it’s a secure place.”

The Bibb County school district will head to Hartley Elementary on March 11 and then Skyview on March 12 to discuss closure options with the local communities.