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Savannah-Chatham public schools 2014 choice transfer deadline looms

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Unhappy with your neighborhood school? Plans for specialty school admission fall through? Worried your child will languish on long charter school wait lists? Public school parents still have some last minute options.

Since the passage of the Public School Choice Bill in 2009, Georgia House Bill 251, dissatisfied public school parents have been allowed to transfer their children to a different school within their local public school system as long as there is space available and the parent provides transportation. Savannah-Chatham public school parents have until 4 p.m. July 12 to request transfers to the following 2014 Choice Transfer Schools:

• Elementary Schools: Port Wentworth, Shuman, Spencer, Thunderbolt;

• Middle Schools: Hubert, Mercer, West Chatham Middle;

• K-8 Schools: East Broad Street School, Georgetown;

• High Schools: Beach, Johnson, School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High, Groves, Windsor Forest High.

Transfer request forms are available at the Savannah-Chatham Schools Central Office at 208 Bull St., the Housing Authority of Savannah and any Live Oak Public Library branch.

State Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, a Groves High graduate, was among the local legislators who helped pass the school choice legislation four years ago. He said providing choice gives all children access to strong schools, and it causes public schools to compete and raise academic performance levels.

“It’s wrong to penalize students if they live in low performing school zones,” Carter said.

Critics of school choice complain that it strips public school systems of the ability to effectively manage its resources.

Even State Rep. Mickey Stephens, D-Savannah, who voted against the school choice bill in 2009, now embraces the school choice transfer option. Stephens, a product of local public schools who has served as a Savannah-Chatham school teacher and school board member, said academic disparity in local public education makes choice a necessity.

“If the school your child is enrolled in is not performing, you should be able to move him to a school that is working, with no stipulations,” Stephens said.

But district officials say they are training teachers, using learning coaches to ensure that all students learn at high levels and that all schools provide quality instruction in a safe environment.”

“It is our job to ensure that each student’s individual instructional needs are met so that they are performing at the very highest level,” said Sharon Sand, Savannah-Chatham’s chief academic officer. “We are working diligently to raise academic standards for all students no matter where they go to school.”

Savannah-Chatham public schools Police Chief Ulysses Bryant said the district has ensured safety by developing detailed safety plans and installing video intercom systems at school entry ways and security cameras throughout all schools.

“We clearly understand the connection between academic success and a safe, positive, learning environment,” Bryant said. “Ensuring that our schools maintain an orderly campus where students feel safe is what we strive to achieve each day.”

Savannah-Chatham public schools officials approve roughly 100 choice transfers each year. But parents can’t just ask that their child be placed in the district’s most popular and successful schools.

Just 14 of the Savannah-Chatham public school system’s 53 schools are on the 2014 Choice Transfer List. Outcomes at the 14 schools vary. Some have shown tremendous academic growth, but none are among the top performing schools where parents want to place their children.

State law doesn’t require the district to offer up space at popular specialty programs and charter schools. If space runs out at the 14 choice transfer schools, a lottery will be conducted to determine which students get those seats. The families granted transfers must provide their own transportation.

 

 

 

PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE

Parents who wish to transfer their children to one of the Savannah-Chatham public school system’s 2014 Choice Transfer Schools, must submit a transfer request form by 4 p.m. July 12.

Forms are available at the Savannah-Chatham public schools Central Office at 208 Bull St., the Housing Authority of Savannah and Live Oak Public Library branches.

For more information, go to www.sccpss.com or call SCCPSS Student Affairs at 912-395-5584.


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