The Escambia County Board of Education and Superintendent John Knott are considering restructuring three Atmore schools.
At a called meeting Monday, March 13, the board gave Knott permission to proceed with the first steps in consolidating A.C. Moore Elementary School with Rachel Patterson Elementary School and Escambia County Middle School.
The “first steps” includes gathering data, conducting surveys, getting input from parents and the community, and holding meetings to present the board’s plan and get feedback from the public.
A meeting is planned for Thursday, April 6, 5 p.m., at A.C. Moore Elementary School. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.
In the restructuring plan, ACM (which has third and fourth grades) would close. Third-grade students would go to Rachel Patterson (now kindergarten through second grade), and the fourth grade would to go to the middle school. Knott said both schools have the available classrooms to house the additional students. He added that concerns about fourth-graders going to the middle school will be addressed by keeping the younger students on a separate schedule in a specified area.
Students who are in the fourth grade now at ACM are already going to fifth grade at the middle school next year.
Students in the third grade now at ACM would go to the fourth grade at the middle school, a year earlier than they would have before.
Students in the second grade at Rachel Patterson, who would have gone to the third grade at ACM, would stay another year at Rachel Patterson.
Students in the two pre-k classes at ACM would go to Rachel Patterson.