MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - Longtime educator and school board member Sara Lewis delivered some good news Monday night to a South Memphis crowd mainly concerned about Carver High School being on a proposed closure list.
"There's no high school on here," said Lewis.
Lewis had already seen a letter signed by superintendents Kriner Cash and John Aitken.
"Neither of us takes the possibility of closing schools lightly, and neither should the board or our community," wrote the superintendents.
Attached to their letter was a list of six schools recommended for possible closure.
"It is Coro Lake, it is White's Chapel, it is Orleans, it is Norris, Humes, and Gordon," read Lewis from the list. "So, the panic is not there," she added.
"I am slightly relieved when I found out Carver is not on the active list of one of the schools to be closed," said Carver alumnus April Bryant.
In fact, as Lewis stated, no high schools were on the list.
"However, I still feel the citizens and alumni should have a contingency plan because the possibility can still stand," said Bryant.
The Transition Planning Commission recommended the closure of some 21 underutilized schools. And while the proposed list from the superintendents turned out to be much shorter, Lewis said the reality in many neighborhoods cannot be ignored.
"You cannot have schools in communities where there are no children," said Lewis.
The superintendents point out in their letter that impact studies and public meetings will be held before any schools are actually closed.
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