Help support a Tybee Island Charter School
Below is a guest post from Brenda Marion, who is on the governing board working to get a charter school on Tybee Island beginning with the 2012 school year. For more info on the proposed Tybee Island Charter School, email tybeeislandcharterschool@comcast.net
On July 13, the Savannah Chatham County School Board will vote on whether or not to approve the Tybee Island Charter School application. In order to ensure that each Board member understands that the Tybee community and other stakeholders stand firmly behind this initiative, we are asking that you send each of them an e-mail asking that they vote YES on our application. Please take some of the talking points below to craft an individualized e-mail to them.
Here are their e-mail addresses:
Joe.buck@sccpss.com; Julie.wade@sccpss.com; Floyd.adams@sccpss.com; Alexander.luten@sccpss.com; Gregory.sapp@sccpss.com; Irene.hines@sccpss.com; lori.brady@sccpss.com; Julie.gerbsch@sccpss.com; ruby.jones@sccpss.com
Below are some talking points:
·Tybee Island has had a school for over 60 years. Tybee children, families and citizens and businesses were extremely supportive of both Tybee’s public school and private school. A school is something that binds a community together and Tybee lost that when St. Michaels closed recently.
· Tybee citizens represent less than 1.5% of the population of Chatham County yet its property owners pay more than 10% of the property taxes for the Savannah Chatham County School System. A small K-5 school is something that we would like to have for our community’s families.
· There are over 100 students who attend SCCPSS k-5 schools who live east of the Lazeretto Creek Bridge. Additionally, there are numerous students who attend private schools. We believe that a school on Tybee would attract a sufficient number of students, would serve as a reason for families with young children to move to Tybee Island and would attract students from elsewhere in Chatham County who are interested in our specialized curriculum.
· We have a facility already in place. Access to a suitable facility is typically a major stumbling block for new charter schools.
· The existing elementary public school for Tybee students is currently at capacity. A Tybee Charter School would help mitigate this problem.
· Tybee students are currently transported to schools all over the County. The SCCPSS Passport to Excellence has as its underlying theme the goal of “neighborhood schools”. A Tybee Charter School would help achieve that goal while also potentially saving money in terms of transportation costs.
· Tybee has a strong and supportive constituency. A Tybee Charter School would have support from various organizations and institutions on many level. Examples include the Tybee Branch of the CEL Library system, the Tybee 4H Center, the Tybee Marine Rescue Squadron, the City of Tybee Island and many others. Additionally, the business community is well-organized and has shown very strong support in the past for Tybee educational initiatives.
Please vote YES for the Tybee Island Charter School on July 13
The above is a guest post from Brenda Marion, who is on the governing board working to get a charter school on Tybee Island beginning with the 2012 schol year. For more info on the proposed Tybee Island Charter School, email tybeeislandcharterschool@comcast.net