‘The wrong solution’: Parents voice concerns over plan that could close Mountain Gap Schools
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — There are growing concerns among parents over Huntsville City Schools (HCS), which proposed a 10-year capital plan that could see multiple schools closing their doors including Mountain Gap Elementary and Mountain Gap Middle Schools.
Parents along with concerned community members gathered at Grissom High School to share their worries with HCS board members. Under the proposed capital plan, students who currently attend Mountain Gap Elementary will be zoned for Weatherly and Challenger Elementary in 2032.
As for children attending Mountain Gap Middle School, they would be moved to the new Challenger Middle School once it opens in 2031 meaning both Mountain Gap campuses would be shutdown.
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School officials feel the proposed plan could provide a better use of their educational facilities while expanding funding and resources for their students.
Parents who have students at those schools are also worried the school board could sell the land where Mountain Gap is making way for developers to come in and build.
HCS Board of Education President Ryan Renaud says they have no plans to sell the land, and the community could have a say in what replaces the school.
“We’re firmly dedicated towards pushing Huntsville City Schools forward,” Renaud said. “There’s an inevitable truth in this world that there’s always a pain in progress we knew that coming into the role and we’re excited about the momentum we’re carrying forward with this capital plan pushing for unitary status.”
The uncertain future for Mountain Gap has parents worried over how it could impact their child’s education and some feel the closures would also result in overcrowding and could affect how their children are taught in the classroom.
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Some parents also feel the new “Mega” school as they called it will also impact their child’s extracurricular opportunities and could change life as they know it for years to come.
“What kind of opportunities are going to come to these kids that are in sports, theatre, and band.” one parent asked the board members. “How are we still going to give those opportunities to those kids who would not have made it but would’ve made it back at their old school.”
“A large consensus of your community views this as the wrong decision, the wrong path, and the wrong solution,” another parent remarked. “Keeping both campuses open and their close-knit communities open is the right solution.”
School officials will vote on the proposed capital plan in May. In the event it’s voted in favor of, an approved plan would still have to be sent to the Department of Justice and a judge meaning those plans could be altered.
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