After hours of contentious public comment, Rapides School Board holds off on closure plan

After house of comments and some anger Tuesday night, the Rapides Parish School Board approved a substitute motion that tables for now a plan to close four schools.

The first substitute motion from board Vice President Buddy McCall failed by a 6-3 vote and came after about two hours of public comment.

"We came here for nothing," one woman said while sitting in the packed boardroom.

In all, the board voted on three substitute motions in the meeting that lasted about four hours. It unanimously approved one from board member Sandra Franklin, which called for the creation of an advisory council and no other action taken on the plan until after it begins work.

The original plan, called the Better Facilities strategic plan, was placed on the board's regular agenda sometime during or after its executive committee meeting on Feb. 27. The plan had not been through any of the board's committees and hadn't received any public comment before board members until Tuesday's meeting.

It called for closing Phoenix Magnet, Alma Redwine and Horseshoe Drive elementary schools and the Rapides Academy. The Phoenix and Rapides programs would be placed at Bolton High School, which would change into the Bolton Academic and Performing Arts Academy.

Students at Alma Redwine and Horseshoe Drive eventually would have been rezoned either for Acadian, Cherokee or Martin Park elementary schools after construction at those schools was completed.

Bolton, as it is now, would cease to exist under the plan. While current students would be allowed to graduate from Bolton, future students would be rezoned to either Alexandria Senior or Peabody Magnet high schools. Student athletes would compete at their zoned schools, not at Bolton.

Some employees were told of the plan last week, and word quickly spread on social media. Board members received calls from parents who had questions, and Superintendent Jeff Powell went to Phoenix on Monday to meet with parents and employees to answer questions.

The boardroom was packed for Tuesday's meeting, and the overflow crowd filled the lobby. More people stood outside the building.

The original motion was to present and adopt the strategic plan, and Franklin was the sole member not listed as an author of the motion.

McCall called for a vote on his substitute motion rather than hear a presentation from Powell about why the plan was needed, so it was opened for public comment.

Attorney David Lind was the first to speak, shaking Powell's hand when getting to the podium. Lind said he was against the original plan, and he asked what research has been done "with respect to the best interests of the children."

Pastor Floyd Kirts, the grandfather of an Alma Redwine student, was against the plan "for many reasons." He said if the children who attend the school are taken out of their neighborhood, their community would be in trouble.

"A school just sitting there with no kids brings problems into the community," he said to applause.

Rapides Academy student Hugh Newcomer, who earlier in the meeting had been recognized as the district's middle school student of the year, told board members their plan had created a huge distraction for him and his fellow students.

"Worry and stress aren't good for anyone, but especially for kids who are about to start end-of-the-year testing," said Newcomer, who is student body president.

He received a standing ovation as he walked back to his seat.

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Newcomer wasn't the only student to speak. Bolton junior Koron Bordley said he and his fellow students were "stressed out, completely to the max" entering their SATs this week because of the plan.

He spoke on behalf of student athletes, saying they've already started working for next year's football and basketball seasons. Bordley said he wanted to compete as a Bolton Bear, not for another school.

He also spoke about being in Bolton's Air Force JROTC and Jobs for America's Graduates program and how much he's learned from both. Audience members applauded him, too.

One father of a Phoenix student said he and his wife supported the substitute motion and believed eventually moving both the Phoenix and Rapides programs to Bolton would be a good idea. He said it makes the most sense, both logistically and financially.

Rapides Parish Police Juror Jay Scott recalled the employees who lost their jobs when the board voted in March 2021 to close four schools. And he talked about the rich tradition at Bolton that would be lost if it becomes an academy.

"Where are we going? We're going backwards," he said.

Pastor Clifford Person from New Hope Missionary Baptist Church told board members his church had adopted Alma Redwine. He called it an oasis in the Sonia Quarters neighborhood.

"To be quite honest, without the school being there, drug dealers know they can sell drugs there," he said. "Without the school being there, in the summertime, children don't have lunch or breakfast."

The mother of a Phoenix kindergarten student said she was against the plan, but said she could support McCall's substitute motion. She criticized how the plan was handled, though.

She brought up the $100 million District 62 bond issue and said it wasn't right to reallocate money to other schools that originally was meant for Alma Redwine and Horseshoe Drive.

"This plan was so half-baked, it wasn't even put in the oven really," she said.

Horseshoe Drive Principal Christine Gatlin said, while no one wants their school to be closed, no one wants to feel as if their voices weren't heard.

One woman who spoke against the plan pointed at Powell and said Alma Redwine deserved an apology because "you went to Phoenix but you didn't come to Alma Redwine."

Imam Mounir Bourkiza of the Islamic Society of Cenla and a member of Cenla Interfaith, said he was concerned about the students who would be displaced by closing schools. But he said the biggest problem he had was the lack of outreach to the community about the plan, something he called "unacceptable."

Former Alexandria City Councilman Jules Green, a 1970 Bolton graduate who also attended school in the buildings now housing Alma Redwine and Phoenix Magnet, said he was against the plan.

"Better together? Really?" he asked of the district's motto.

Green said the plan needs to be "reconsidered completely."

Donna Johnson Mathews thinks a kindergarten through 12th grade performing arts school "would be a fantastic addition to the Rapides Parish school system. I was opposed to the way it came out. I was opposed to the way it was presented."

She urged the board to vote for McCall's substitute motion.

When that substitute motion failed, audience members groaned in disbelief. McCall got up and walked out of the boardroom.

"Y'all are killing these children," he said as he left. He returned to his seat minutes later.

Chapman called for order and began to read his two-page substitute motion. As they began discussing it, Franklin said the motion was too long.

She said the previous speakers were "overwhelmingly" against the original plan and said board members weren't listening to them.

"All I want to say, proceed with caution because we don't know the implications that's gonna happen from this," she said.

Franklin said she wasn't fearmongering, but called it "disrespectful and wrong" to listen to the speakers and then go against their concerns.

Board member Linda Burgess agreed with her.

"I have always said, let's see what the community says. Now the community has said they are against this," she said. "What they want to do is get more input into this particular motion."

When the floor opened for public comments again, many of those who spoke were angry.

James Lucas, the parent of a Bolton student, turned to the audience and said, "it's obvious, they done made up their minds."

His comment received loud applause.

Chapman's motion failed on a 8-1 vote, which set up the vote on Franklin's substitute motion. That was done quickly by a voice vote.

Someone asked for clarification that the vote meant nothing would happen immediately, and applause and cheers broke out when Chapman said yes. He then adjourned the meeting.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: After hours of comments, Rapides School Board tables closure plan