http://66.225.205.104/JR20101027.mp3
The CMS board of education is holding a public forum tonight at Harding High to solicit feedback on its plans to close that school. The board's already received quite a bit of feedback from families angry Harding was placed on the chopping block at the last minute. WFAE's Julie Rose reports that CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman has some regrets about that. For weeks, it was Waddell High the district planned to close. But then at 4 p.m. Monday - just two hours before a public forum on the proposal - CMS announced it would spare Waddell and close Harding instead. That left families reeling - and irate about the last minute notice. CMS Superintendent Gorman Talks Candidly About School Closings The school board quickly scheduled another public forum for tonight to give Harding families a chance to sound off. But CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman now says Harding should have been on the list all along - not Waddell. "And that was my mistake," says Gorman. "I think we should have done it that way looking back. I don't think we really made the best recommendation. But part of it too, was we were swayed by some of the argument we heard." Gorman says CMS staff also realized that closing Waddell didn't fit with the school board's goal of emphasizing neighborhood - or "home" schools. Waddell is a home school. Harding is a magnet school. Still, Gorman says he stands by the district's process in choosing schools to close and soliciting public input. "Tonight's meeting will be, I believe, the 14th community meeting we have had since we started this entire process," says Gorman. "I've never been part of a group that held so many meetings. And part of the challenge - even though we've had so many meetings - is how do we make sure that the facts get out?" That's the point of tonight's meeting at Harding High at 6 p.m., as well as the many individual conversations school board members say they will have with constituents before making a final decision. That's set to happen on Nov. 9.