Amos: Find A Use For Stanton Elementary

If Frank L. Stanton Elementary is closed, District 2 school board representative Byron Amos wants to find a community use for the property.

"I'm not having conversations about even closing Stanton," Amos told members of NPU-S during its regular business meeting on Thursday night at the Community Church of God. "But we have to be realistic, and that is being considered as part of the APS redistricting process."

Amos told the NPU he is hosting a series of community meetings at Bethune Elementary "in which I want our community to make its voice heard, as to what will be done with Stanton.

"District 2 is the APS' core school district, and any school that's closed, I'm dedicated to returning it to the community in some sort of educational capacity."

The meetings are Saturday, Feb. 18, from 9am-11am; Thursday, Feb. 23, from 6pm-8pm; and Saturday, Feb. 25, from 9am-12pm.

Stanton Elementary is targeted for closure under both APS redistricting options.

Amos told the NPU the demographics study was commissioned by the APS in 2010, but as the CRCT cheating scandal developed, that issue took precedence.

"We have 40,000 to 45,000 kids and 60,000 seats," Amos said. "You have to be realistic in terms of your resources.

"But the bottom line is, if we had been providing a quality education for all of our kids, in all of our schools, we wouldn't even be having these conversations today."