By Dr. Donald Jefferson

Superintendent of Education, Selma City Schools

They came in masses — dignitaries, politicians, young, old, male, female, black, white, educated and uneducated.

The Selma City School Board held its monthly board meeting at Payne Elementary School. The hot button issue on the agenda was the closing of three schools: Byrd Elementary, Phoenix School and the School of Discovery. Once the recommendation was made by the superintendent to close the schools, the motion was made and seconded; then the school board chairman called for the vote. The recommendation failed. There will be no closing of schools.

The gathered crowd erupted in sheer joy! From the boisterous noise reverberating inside Payne Elementary School’s cafeteria, one would have thought that Selma had just won the Super Bowl.

The city of Selma won Thursday because the strident voices of the people were heard. Public education in the city of Selma took a major step forward Thursday because the masses unified behind one unified goal. Education.

Never mind if one’s personal reason for being present was to have his or her school remain open or to hear what school, if any, was going to close. They were there and they were concerned.

What gave me gratification, as superintendent, was to see what can happen in this city when its citizens are galvanized for one common goal. To see the passion Mrs. Beth Taylor (principal of Byrd Elementary School) displayed, tears profusely streaming down her face, while so eloquently speaking to the news media about getting back to some sense of normalcy at her school. Mrs. Ann Thomas, a teacher at School of Discovery, articulated the opportunities that are afforded students at SOD.

There was not a single person seated on that stage last night, which included the superintendent and all five board members who truthfully wanted to see the closing of any school. But we all know that “something has to be done.”

In quoting one board member, “I need to see some hard numbers.”

Please allow me to share some of those hard numbers with you again.

The FY 2012 budget is currently being hammered-out. Other Current Expense, OCE as it is commonly called, stands to lose $90 million or some fraction of that amount, which will greatly affect the operation of the Selma City School System in these areas of support personnel, which includes secretaries, bookkeepers, custodians, bus drivers and some state units; utilities, such as the light, water and gas bills are paid through this funding source.

The question has frequently been asked, “what is Plan B?” This is a difficult question to answer. With whatever action is proposed and/or taken, employees, students and the community will be impacted. The other alternative could be the Reduction in Force Policy (RIF) would have to be activated, which would cause massive layoffs in support personnel.

The second part of Plan B is that extra-curricular activities may have to be discontinued. The central office is currently waiting on reimbursements funds for transportation from several schools in the district in the amount of $10,000, which, so far, have not been submitted.

The athletic department at Selma High School has an outstanding bill with Hibbet Sporting Goods for $12,000 without the necessary funds to pay the bill.

The Selma City School System receives Public School Funds (PSF) annually from the Alabama State Department of Education in the amount of $1,046,000 to be shared with all 11 schools.

Of that dollar amount, $280,000 comes off the top to support the construction of the new Selma High School. The remaining $766,000 is budgeted between the 11 schools, which equals about $69,000 each to be distributed equally among the schools for the entire year. These funds can only be used for maintenance of the school plant and facility. The system cannot repair the roof at any school for $69,000, very little renovations can be accomplished with this amount, thus repairs will be at a minimum.

There is an enormous amount of repairs that are needed in all of our schools to make the learning atmosphere conducive for effective teaching and learning.

The third Plan B is to petition the Selma City Council and the Dallas County Commission for a much needed tax increase.

What I would like to see, as superintendent is that same display of sheer joy of accomplishment as we unify behind the common goal of a tax increase for the Selma City School System.

The system can support that game plan, those same prayers, public support, community support, and statewide support utilized at Byrd, the Phoenix School and the School of Discovery to petition the City Council and the County Commission to show that this is an important school system to keep solvent. Then Selma will truly win.

“Success is that thing you get when you want something bad enough to make people listen.”