FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Dozens of parents wearing blue stood in the back of a room of the Fulton County Schools South Learning Center, cheering on their fellow parents. Lately, they've found less to cheer about after learning Parklane Elementary School and Spalding Drive Elementary School were both at risk of closing.
"Spalding Drive is not just a building, it's a community," one parent said. "What we're asking for is a chance to help our school survive."
Kate Heckrote has two children who go to Spalding Drive Elementary in Sandy Springs. She praised the diversity at the school and noted the educational upheaval her children had already experienced since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It is devastating to think about our school closing," Heckrote said. "We're a school that's bridged the gap between children that live in apartment homes that face economic hardships and children that live in $2 million mansions. To be uprooted and sent to a different school is heartbreaking."
Spalding Drive and Parklane Elementary in East Point are both at risk of closure, after Fulton County Schools staff said they were under the enrollment threshold. School staff also looks at the conditions of the school facilities and nearby schools' population to determine whether to close and consolidate schools. School board members heard from parents Thursday night, wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Some were upset that academic performance was not part of the criteria of keeping the schools open.
"It had nothing to do with the test scores or anything like that, that was the shocking part," Parklane Elementary parent Travis Malloy said. "I thought the academics might have had a part to play in it."
Malloy has four children who went or currently go to Parklane Elementary. He said the school sits in an area that's historically seen underdevelopment. He worries his children's commute to other schools may be farther and the achievements accomplished at Parklane will be forgotten.
"When you come from these environments, and you constantly see things closing, it's a sense of hopelessness," Malloy said, fighting through tears. "I don't want our children to feel that."
Fulton County Schools chief operating officer Noel Maloof said declining birth rates and more parents sending their children to private and charter schools has led to the recent drop-in public-school enrollment. He noted that keeping the schools open doesn't make financial sense.
"We have seats sitting empty," Maloof said. "There are financial impacts on that, and we want to make sure our finances are going towards our core business of educating our kids. Just like an old car, at some point, you stop putting new tires on it and new transmissions in it, a new engine in it and you work with your new car, because that's more economically efficient."
Fulton County Schools most recently closed SL Lewis Elementary in 2023 due to a drop in enrollment and the school being deemed to be in an unsatisfactory condition.
Fulton County Schools plans to hold three more community meetings in October, November and December, where parents are allowed to give their input. In January, the school district will formally propose a recommendation to close both Parklane Elementary and Spalding Drive Elementary. Then, the school board is set to officially vote on the school closures in February.
Heckrote said she understood the dynamics at play. But she's hoping for a little more time to research viable alternatives to shutting down the school where her kids learned lessons and made friends.
"It would be nice if we had a little bit more breathing room to come up with next steps," Heckrote said. "We understand they have policies and procedures they need to follow, but we're more than just numbers in seats. I understand we have to look at things to address budget issues. We are just being put in a very difficult spot."