Ga. charter school divides county along racial lines

Dorie Turner

GREENSBORO, Ga. — The interstate, not the railroad, divides social class and race in east Georgia’s Greene County.

Separated by Interstate 20, the haves own million-dollar houses along the lake and the have-nots live in trailers in abandoned, run-down towns. There’s not much in between, aside from hard feelings.

Now a place long divided by demographics and geography is at odds again, over the opening of a charter school that some residents say intentionally excludes the county’s black and low-income students. The proposed school gives enrollment preference to children living near Lake Oconee, the predominantly white, affluent section of the county south of Interstate 20.

“What this creates is racial segregation de facto,” said the Rev. Roi Johnson, pastor of New Springfield Baptist Church in Siloam, one of the county’s small towns.

Supporters of the school, which would be called Lake Oconee Academy, say it’s not meant to discriminate, but to draw more middle-class families to the county. They say it will create a neighborhood school for children who now live more than 10 miles from the closest public school.

“We believe if we have a community-based school in this area, the people will move here,” said Rabun Neal, president of the upscale Reynolds Plantation development and lead petitioner for the charter school.

Blacks make up 40 percent of the county — which is about 75 miles east of Atlanta — but the majority of them live north of the highway in Greensboro and Union Point. The 2,100-student public school system, however, is 70 percent black, and more than three-quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches.

The charter school would serve students primarily from the tiny Lake Oconee developments — including Reynolds Plantation and Reynolds Landing, resort-style communities with a Ritz-Carlton Lodge. Ten percent of the school’s planned 400 seats would be reserved for students outside the primary attendance zone.

The Greene County school board signed off on the proposed charter school late last year, sending it to the state’s charter school committee for approval. The state committee is expected to approve the proposal at a July 12 meeting in time for the school to open in August in temporary space at a nearby church.

In the meantime, Johnson and other county residents — including a former chairman of the Greene County school board — have mounted a campaign against the school.

A group of about 50 residents held a protest at the state Capitol in mid-June, wearing shirts reading: “No taxation without representation.”

So far, the protests haven’t had much effect, and Johnson has apparently worn out his welcome with the Greene County school board.

After bringing up the issue at several meetings, a sheriff’s deputy handed Johnson a letter banning him from speaking at future meetings as he was making a social call.

“It’s gonna get me arrested, I guess,” Johnson said minutes after opening the note.

Superintendent Shawn McCollough declined a face-to-face interview and did not return repeated calls for comment.

Greene County school board chairwoman Janice Gallimore, who is black, said she supports opening the school because “it’s the right thing to do for the area.” The naysayers, she said, are acting based on personal quibbles with school board members.

“We need to put politics aside and focus on the children and the community,” Gallimore said.

Greene County residents haven’t had to deal with enrollment zones — which are in place in many public school districts across the state — because the county only has four public schools, all of which have open enrollment, said Andrew Broy, director of charter schools for the state.

Charter schools, however, don’t have to follow such practices because they are free from state and federal regulations and are required only to meet standards negotiated between the school and state officials.

The schools must still meet state and federal education standards like the No Child Left Behind law, but have more leeway in how they get there.

The charter school debate has strained relations in this town, which has historically been racially divided, dating back to when slaves worked the fields of cotton and corn.

When agriculture began to decline, so did Greene County’s economy. And that left a large minority population with meager incomes and low education levels, said University of Georgia demographer Doug Bachtel.

“Into that environment moved a lot of affluent white educated suburbanites who got lake homes there,” Bachtel said. “It has created some interesting dynamics in terms of politics.”

The racial divide in the county is still tangible, and self-segregation is evident in some places.

At the only doctor’s office in Union Point, the back door opened into a small waiting room filled with blacks while the front door lead to a larger waiting room filled with whites. No signs indicated who should sit where, but it seemed like there was a natural inclination to separate.

“It’s a matter of choice, like where you go to church,” said Dr. William H. Rhodes. “There are black churches and white churches.”

Change is coming quickly to the fast-growing county. Reynolds Plantation wants to draw more middle-class families by building affordable homes starting at $150,000 near the charter school. Neal said he wants the 3,200 workers who staff the Ritz-Carlton Lodge and other nearby businesses to be able to afford to live there.

Still, for parents like Wilmatine Parks, the new school seems like an attempt to divide the county. Parks has a daughter going into kindergarten and another going into second grade, but neither are in the school’s attendance zone since the family lives north of the interstate.

“To me, they are segregating the schools,” said Parks. “They don’t want their kids to go to school with the kids up here.”

(Associated Press)