Citizens and education activists in Tuscaloosa aren't happy about a recent school board decision to renovate two existing elementary schools instead of replacing them with a new school.
The Tuscaloosa chapter of the NAACP has been protesting in front of the Tuscaloosa City Schools Central Office this week. Members say they want the school board to build a new elementary school in west Tuscaloosa that would replace the ailing Central and Oakdale elementary schools.
The school board had planned on building a new $19.2 million facility at the site of the former Stillman Heights Elementary School that would serve students from both Central and Oakdale. But the plan that the board eventually passed will renovate Central and Oakdale rather than construct a new building. Central students will move into the now-shuttered Stillman building this fall while Central is renovated. In 2017, Oakdale students will occupy Stillman once their renovations begin.
Residents in west Tuscaloosa feel they're being taken advantage of, especially since the school board plan includes construction of a new middle school and a new elementary school in other parts of town. But over the last 10 years, several new schools have been built in west Tuscaloosa.
School board members say their decision is final.