Question: school closing

Our school is the only blue ribbon school ever and the only current Honor School of Excellence in the county. However, our board of education is wanting to close us do to budget issues. Can you give any advice of where we can go for help? What we can do to keep our school open?

Asked by smith

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
That's a tough one. The only thing I've seen work is a well-organized grassroots campaign. You have to rally community support for your school and communicate a coherent message about why it shouldn't be closed. It sounds like you have a good message to convey, and that's important. You also have to examine the arguments being made by those who want to close the school and come up with counterarguments. For example: Is your building the oldest one? Well maybe that's true, but it's not in disrepair and it's in an underserved area of town. Make your case individually to community leaders to enlist their support. If you can enlist the help of someone who's used to working on local political campaigns or lobbying, their advice could be very helpful. Good luck.

Community Advice

traceym writes:
Contact all parents and use social media like Facebook, Myspace etc to get the word out when the school board is meeting and having discussions about closing your school, there should be a time for publiccomments during each meeting. Also, contact the press and let them know your concerns.