JACKSON GOEST TO PARENTS SEEKING ADVICE

As the Jackson School District studies what to do about school attendance areas, especially for Gordonville and Millersville, many parents and residents of the two communities hope to convince the Board of Education not to close the schools in those communities.

Gordonville and Millersville residents, many of whom attended the respective schools as have their children and grandchildren, are understandably proud of the two attendance centers. Since the schools opened in the mid-1950s, they have served not only as educational centers but as gathering places for an assortment of community events. Those who oppose closing of the schools made their sentiments known as public meetings last week.

But the school district faces a dilemma: A growing number of students has created the need for new schools.

The district is building a new elementary school along Highway 25 south of Jackson. If the schools at Gordonville south of Jackson and Millersville to the west are closed, those students would attend the new South Elementary School, which is to open next fall and house kindergarten through fifth grade. The district hopes to build another elementary school at a later date.

Enrollments at both attendance centers are near capacity. The Gordonville school, which contains first, second and third grades, has the capacity for 71 students and enrollment of 65. Millersville, which runs first-through-fourth grade, can accommodate 100 students and currently has 84.

A committee recommended that neither school be expanded. It said of the Gordonville school that age, structural flaws, design limitations and site restrictions make its expansion impractical. Expansion of the Millersville school would not be feasible because many students must be transported from locations closer to Jackson back to Millersville, and the parents of many of those students work in Jackson or Cape Girardeau.

Administrators surveyed parents of some 65 elementary school-aged children living in the Gordonville attendance area during November to determine their preferences in elementary schools. Preferences were divided fairly evenly between Gordonville and South Elementary School, and very few people expressed no preference. It is amazing that their preferences were so evenly divided. This will make the task of deciding what to do with the schools even tougher.

The school board is going about the task the right way in soliciting opinions of school district patrons before deciding what to do. It is important that the board weigh advantages and disadvantages before arriving at a decision, keeping in mind that the overall financial integrity as well as the good of the students are at stake.