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Century Residents Writing Letters To The President To Save School
April 8, 2009
About 200 people have taken part in a letter writing campaign to President Barack Obama to save Carver-Century K-8 School, but one local woman has questioned the idea to the town council.
“We have composed a letter, (by popular demand) from an idea brought to us by a long time Century resident who wrote a passionate letter to the President asking for help to save Carver Century School,” Jack Moran of Century Pharmacy wrote in an email. “If you are not good at writing letters, you can simply fill in your name at the top, then sign and print your name and address at the bottom of the letter. Also there is space at the bottom for you to write a short comment if you desire.”
Century resident Dorothy Newton told the Century Town Council that she was presented the letter at her church, asked to sign it and give it back. But she said that seemed a like a bad idea to her.
“What committee should we follow?” Newton asked the council. The town had formed a Blue Ribbon Committee charged with attempting to save the school some months ago, but that committee is no longer active.
Mayor Freddie McCall told Newton that the letter to the president campaign was a project of the local business, not a town project.
“Perhaps this will help us to keep our school,” Moran wrote in an email to NorthEscambia.com. “Remember, it isn’t over till its over…and it isn’t over till we give up!”
“We are a poor little town on Hwy 29 with nearly 1,800 souls. We have lost our high school, our middle school, and now we are losing our elementary school. Closing our school is not the answer to the districts financial problems; it is just making matters worse for everyone,” the form letter to the president says. “The nearest elementary school is 15 miles away, and the nearest middle school is more than 20 miles away. We need time to find other solutions, like a charter school a private school or a charter school.”
“Can you help us to keep our school open for two or three more years until we can work things out with a better solution than closing our only school?” the letter concludes.
The letter has blanks for the sender’s name, address and signature. Moran said that copies of the letter can be picked up at the Century Pharmacy on Mayo Street and returned to the same location. The pharmacy will place each signed letter in an individual, stamped envelope and mail it to Washington.
The Escambia County School Board voted recently to close the school at the of this school year to save an estimated $600,000 annually.
Comments
30 Responses to “Century Residents Writing Letters To The President To Save School”
“Think”, what does RACE or FLOODING have to do with closing a school? This is all getting to be ridiculous. If you find the comments distasteful, then don’t read or respond to them. Simple. If you ARE going to respond, at least post something that makes sense.
I remember a time when race seperated us. I remember a time when the flood came and the neighboring towns assisted us in remaining a community. This was a time when people listened to their hearts. I wonder if this school issue was a flood, what would your heart tell you to do? What happen to the love and kindness that draws us together? The type of language that is used on this network is distasteful. We are talking about children. In the eyes of God we are all his children? Is there someone who doesn’t want to be a part of this family. A family who prays together stays together.
Good Lord, Purvi Smith! You’re going to be a TEACHER!? Your grammar, spelling, and sentence structure are AWFUL! If you are any indication of the education at Century then I am GLAD they are closing the school! I sincerely hope you learn to speak and write correctly before they give you a teaching certificate!
Being a former student of Century Ele. and a future teacher i think it is just wrong to close the only school down in century. Why are we puting everything in Bratt and Walnut Hill whats with that. Let get the facts right. Its going to save the school board $600,000. I’ve heard from a really go source who works at Centuy/Caver K-8 that they will have to buy 11 trailors inorder for them to have school at Ernest Ward and Bratt. but the cost of 4 of those trailors is th same amount of money it takes to run the school now.so why buy 11 of those trailrs when i fact you can keep the school up and runnng while finding a way to get the eduation back to where it once was. Its not the students fault its the community fault. Why all the blame is going on the students. As a community we need to step it up and support the school and get involed. When I was at century ele. there was lil suppot from the community but now i see nothing The kids need to feel like someone has they back and is cheer for them but they dont and thats why they have behavior problems. Also its just not the community fault i put it on the staff at the school.Some of those teachers and faculty dont care anything about those students they’er there just to get payed. We need to look into what type of teachers are teaching these kids.And find out whats wrong aith the education in century before closing the school down.
Dear Mr. Moran,
I have nearly 30 years as an educator -teacher-administrator-coach- in a variety of settings! My time at Carver was very eye opening! The administration, staff and teachers all worked very very hard with and for these children! But I must say-many or most of the students behaved terribly, almost like they had no “home training” whatsoever! Some that call themselves parents are going to answer to God himself for “not raising” their children, but instead, drinking, smoking, gambling, and many other deploable behaviors I will not mention because children read these blogs! These children are going to effect the children of Bratt, Ernest Ward, and Northview with their -lack of discipline, poor morals, lack of self-control and other bad learned behaviors! If I was a parent of a school aged child at one of these schools, I would be very concerned about what is coming! But all I have read here, is that the children with all their “behaviors” are being welcomed and will be taught, disciplined and loved with all the rest! Schools are being closed in Baldwin, Mobile and thousands of school districts across our nation- Century is not being picked on as you suggest! It is in fact being given a great blessing!
The federal government does not usually get involved with state school policies. I wonder if the good people of Century would have written these letters if Bush was still in office. Probably not.
School District Employee,
Wow, I am shocked at your comment.. You saying “most of the children have no respect for themselves or anyone else” is a very bold statement, which I do not agree with. Now, I do agree that the new school will be good for the children, but what I do not see is the logic in your comment. If Carver offers all of these great programs and Bratt does the same, how will Bratt positively affect these “disrespectful” kids anymore than Carver has?
Seems to me like maybe you are blaming the children for the mistakes Carver school has made… Adults teach children. For goodness sake, you are talking about K through 8th graders here. They are children and children MUST have guidance from adults.
Doing a letter writing campaign to the President just shows how desperate Jack Moran and company have become. Where were all of these “concerned citizens” when the school needed volunteers, tutors, and community support? And I’m not talking about the last year or two either. When there were PTA meetings and only a handful of parents showed themselves in support of their children and the school, this goes a long way in telling everyone the community’s true feelings about the school. Don’t tell us that it was because folks didn’t have transportation to the school because all you need to do is drive around Century and see the operational cars every yard. This is just another half-hearted failed attempt to stop the inevitable closing of Carver/Century by those who only want to line their own pockets.
If only their efforts were spent writing a charter and not in some vain letter writing attempt to have President Osama wave a magic wand, Century could keep a school within the town limits. But Century doesn’t really want to run school because there’s no one around with the business savvy or education to make a charter school a reality.
I say close the last school in century, but guess what Bratt and Ernie Ward you will be on the chopping block before long.
Folks, you need to get all the facts before stating what Carver/Century K thru 8th did not have to offer students. This year students were involved in basketball teams (girls and boys), cheerleaders, and track (girls and boys) providing they had the grade point average. The problem with most of the students at Carver/Century is they don’t care about learning. They have no RESPECT for themselves or anyone else. Closing the school is the BEST thing for the students.
All I can say is PAAALLLEEEEZZZEEEE!!!! “Concerned” says that Ernest Ward and Bratt are demanding schools…… Well, what do you think makes them “A” schools? It takes a principal, teachers, AND MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The government or school board cannot do it for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From what I read here, this generation of Century kids will be the first to have the educational opportunity to actually afford vehicles. I am happy for them and wish them the very best at these new schools.
I have listened and read comments about this subject and to tell you the truth I am very disturbed.You are making the kids look like they cannot cope at another school.Do you read what you are writing before you post it?I did not take advantage of the education I was offered and worked nowhere jobs all my life. I want more for these children.I hate they are closing the school but it seems you are fighting for the wrong reasons.You are making it hard on the kids.Think of the kids and not yourselves.If you truly want your children to make a difference in this world then stop doing this.The more you fuss about this the more the kids listen and they will take all this with them and then they will get in trouble and then where will they go?Please think of what you are saying around the kids because they are the ones that will suffer.This is not about Century it is about our kids getting a good education and doing something positive with their lives and not waiting around every month for a check from the government.I don’t know about you but I would want more for my kids.If you will take a step back and look at how this fighting looks I don’t think you would do this.Please think about what you say around your kids.This is about the children not the adults or the town.
It’s rather humorous that Mr. Moran seems to have found a venue that affords him a place to write these mini-essays, full of grammatical and punctuation errors – maybe he needs to go back to La. Tech for some remedial classes.
When I read them, it’s almost as if he is writing to hear himself talk – so to speak..
I respect his right to express his feelings – but I have feelings, too and I am expressing mine. I think the Century school is not the only one in the region – much less the entire country – that is closing because of financial problems and students are having to be moved. Let’s get over it, people. Some things we might have to just adjust to.
As for what “concerned” wrote about the Century children being required to follow the same standards that the other students follow, I believe the Century students might surpise you. What was said makes it sound like they are inferior – maybe they lack in social skills (Moran said “socialization skills” – what’s up with that?), but they can adjust and fare well in a better school. Let’s hope that now they have a chance and can make something of themselves.
One must wonder if the same sort of effort had been put forth into volunteerism etc , prior to talk of closing that is being put into lawsuits, letter writing and protesting the closing if the school might not have been a successful one and stayed open…
The only reason I feel bad that the school is closing is because of the children. They will be sad because they are accustomed to their school and will not want to leave. Other than that, there is no other reason to be sad. I believe it will be to the children’s benefit to go to the new school and also to the benefit of the existing children at Bratt. Bratt is a good school and all children deserve a good education.
Last I heard, our country was not segregated anymore, and to me, it seems like this is what the whole ordeal is about — and I’m saying this to everyone involved in the argument. Both sides.
Dear Voters, er ah er I have read er ah your letters and ah ah I will see what er er I can do. You did vote for me didnt you ? Anyway your ah ah er school is uh uh worth it.
It seems to me when you take away, or DO NOT OFFER the extra-curricular activities that children enjoy doing- basketball, swim team, track, band, etc that this could push children to leave to go to other schools where these are offered. So which came first, did the programs get taken away to perhaps force the kids to want to go somewhere else, or did they go somewhere else after the programs were lost? Sure makes me wonder???
It seems to me that a lot of the people for the school staying open don’t even have children that would attend there. Let parents with actual school age children make these decisions and have the opinions on this matter.Look at enrollment numbers, most parents have taken their stand already . Give it up and give it a rest.
The Big O will save you. Praise budda and allah
The letters may not help, but you have to notice 200 of them, even if you are the President of the United States.
We MUST keep the faith, Pray for God’s Will to be done, and Give God the Glory; as my wife said.
Due to the efforts of our community, we have now had over 200 letters returned and mailed to the President of the United States! My compliments to our towns’ people. We are so proud of you. We must keep faith, keep Century in prayer and give God the glory!
Bob,
My life style is pretty well fixed at 67 years of age. And I come from a long line of school teachers. I am very familiar with the issues at hand here, and likely do understand what is best for some of the children. I have often been in the “gross minority” since I grew up very poor as a child, but I have always been a high achiever too. Thus, this country boy seems to have “done good”. My wife drove to Auburn in a car without a heater wearing socks over her hands and a blanket to stay warm, after working weekends serving pizza in Atmore for tips so she could go to graduate school. I would work until 1:00 or 2:00 AM and drive the rest of the night to make a 7:30 AM classes at LA Tech. Trust me when I say that I understand that education is the key; but I also know what it is like to be poor and to not have a way home when you get sick at school.
Bob, think about this; Bratt cannot handle all of the kids that they are proposing to send there – even with a million bucks worth of temporary buildings (already proposed) – and even so, if a child gets sick at school; how will that child get home if the parent does not have a car, and if there is no rural bus or transit service? Bigger schools, further apart are not a solution – or what is best for the kids. Not in my opinion.
We are on the cusp of a “perfect storm” in education. The system if broken, nation wide. If you need proof of that, just Google “school district budget problems” as key words, and count the number of school districts that are in trouble nation wide. The school district is trying to patch a 200 year old buggy. The school district is broke and broken! That is not the fault of Mr. Thomas; he is just in over his head. It is not the fault of the teachers or the principles either. It is just that times have changed faster than the system has evolved.
Century kids are behind because the school district has been leaching resources out of the Century school for years now. The town is poor, fragmented politically, and poorly educated (34% can’t read above a 3rd grade level – a fact!). Plus the fact that its population is predominately Black; makes it an easy target – little money, few votes, few jobs equal easy target. The school district could easily drain resources from the Century school and get little or no resistance or objection – or so they thought.
Yes, Century kids behave badly – they lack in socialization skills. Yes, Century kids do poorly on standardized test – they are poorly motivated and have poor foundations. But we are changing that(!) and the test results are showing it. Century kids have a higher enrollment in the Imagination Library than any other community in the entire county. We have kids in the first grade who read on a fourth grade level! Parents spoke of “Black Cat Pride”; well it does exist and it IS IMPORTANT.
Education is about teaching and developing kids, it is not about dollars and jobs at the school district offices. If there is real concern about education, then Century should be granted a Charter School and allow the use of social networking (MySpace, MyFace, Twitter, etc.) to generate the extra curricular activities like band, and ball teams, pep squad and cheerleaders.
The school district could save more by putting more schools in more communities and cutting the transportation budget or consolidating it with ECAT somehow than by closing and consolidating schools. Try that on for size. I don’t know if it will work or not but it is certainly worth looking into.
What will the district do when bus-fuel goes back to $4-$6 per gallon or higher; which it certainly will; and sooner than later?? Will they want to close Bratt in favor of Molino-Park Elementary? It is the District that is broke AND BROKEN!
Sounds to me that the few that can’t turn loose of this school matter are simply a gross minority. Probably because it is going to upset their personal lifestyle or they are incapable of understanding what is simply best for the child.
Dear Former Teacher,
First of all, no one is “allowing” the students to go anywhere. The students are being forced to go. Secondly, if the other schools are “offer(ing) so much more!) THAT is a decision of the office of the superintendent of the school district – the school has NO say-so in what it offers in the way of curriculum or activities. For that matter, Carver Century was a Title-I school and as such should have been one of the schools with the best curriculum and the most activities for social and educational development in the entire school district. Why was that not so? Why didn’t the school have the kinds of programs, equipment, and activities that was and is available to Title-I schools?
Thank you Mr Moran! Century isn’t Pensacola. In Pensacola you can close schools and not affect the community because there are more schools down there. In Century, there is only one school. You can’t expect people to want to see their community destroyed. Century is a poor community. Pensacola has a school every few miles. The closest to Century is 15 -20 miles away.
Something else that no one is talking about is that once these4 children go to Bratt and Ernest Ward is the schools themselves and how the principals are going to treat these children. Bratt and Ernest Ward are good schools, but a demanding schools. The principals are going to expect that the Century children follow the same standards that the other students follow. What they needed to do is get a principal that cared about the students and disciplined the students the way they needed to be instead of not caring about what they do on the buses and in the school. Then if they closed the school the children wouldn’t be in such turmoil.
Not everyone is going to agree with everyone else. We all have opionions.
Allowing the students to go to local schools-Ernest Ward, Northview, Bratt is the best thing that could happen to these children, these are very fine schools! These schools offer so much more! Tough times require prayerful decisions and this one has been made! Be thankful!
Dear Me,
Some of us believe that the closing of the Century K-8 School will be detrimental to the quality of life in Century. One of the fundamental quality of life infrastructure requirements of a community is the school (along with water, electricity, sewer, and now days transportation, cell service, housing, day care, health care, etc.).
The school provides the basis of opportunity, and the basis for civility development, — the future of our children and our civilization. The school provides a cohesive element that helps to bond the community together and gives it identity. We believe that the elected officials of the school district have an obligation to serve the people, not the other way around.
We believe that the actions of the school district are misguided, and are fundamentally wrong when it comes to selecting schools for closure. It is this debate of ideas that makes America Great – the fact that we can debate with our officials — This is The United States of America.
The actions of the school district officials are creating larger and larger schools, further and further apart. The population center of the county is moving north, while the population center of the school district student body is moving south. Such actions will ultimately drive up transportation costs without improving the quality of education or the civility of the students – much less the life quality of the communities within the county. The national trend is toward smaller schools that are closer together.
What happened in Century is this; As the school district cut the extra curricular programs and activities [chorus, band, team sports, pep-squad, cheer leaders, etc.] those who could move their children to schools that offered more enriched educational opportunities and social activities, did so; those who could not move their children or who believed the programs would return, stayed – but ultimately, the school student population declined. Kids do not want to go to school where there are no social and competitive sports activities. Thus the students left in the school were mostly poor, whose parents could not afford to relocate.
That decline is not a responsibility of the members of the community, the school staff, or local government; however, it is the function of and the responsibility of the school district. They establish the curriculum and allow the social activities like band, and teams.
The school district administration is responsible for the loss of more than 3,500 children from the system over the past 10 years or so. Parents are leaving the county to find better educational and social development opportunities for their children. Check the record.
I am personally committed to Century as a community and the quality of life it offers.
I think you (Me) needs to wake up and realize what is happening here, it is about the children and their future – it is about all of us who care – except maybe you (me). Incase you haven’t noticed; the system is broken.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! Let the school close, enough people. I don’t understand why you people won’t let this go and get on with your life.
Good idea. I’m sorry Claudia Brown Curry didn’t win this past Nov 4th. I think she would have found some other way than shutting down the elementary school.
I was looking at your web site and I think it would help if you had a “Share This” feature on your web site so people could easily post your articles in one of the social networks like Facebook or MySpace and/or they could email the stories directly to people they want to from this web site.