Strickland emotional as Edgewood decision looms

Still mourning the death of her mother, Wayne County School Board member Jennifer Strickland’s voice cracked when she commented ahead of a vote on a new proposal made by WCPS Superintendent Michael Dunsmore — a plan that would allow parents, with the exception of those of new pre-K students, to choose whether to send their children to Edgewood Developmental School or Meadow Lane this fall.

She wiped tears from her eyes as she compelled fellow board members to keep the school operating as it always has — to listen to the concerns of the dozens of parents, family members, and advocates in attendance.

And she pleaded with that same crowd to trust that she was doing everything she could to be its voice.

“I’m doing the best I can,” she said.

They seemingly believed her. Cheers broke out every time Strickland finished speaking.

“We know,” one woman said after Strickland said she was trying to do the right thing. “You’re doing good. We love ya.”

But despite Strickland’s plea to end the waiting game Edgewood parents have been playing since the prospect of closing the school was first discussed several months ago, in the end, it was determined that the school’s fate would not be determined on this night — that officials would wait until the school was inspected, parents had the opportunity to walk through Meadow Lane, and family decisions were made before making anything official.

Several Edgewood advocates spoke out anyway.

Stacy Miller is a parent of an Edgewood student and said her goal was to ensure the student body remained intact.

“Our goal is to stay together,” she said.

Advocate Rachel Radford, who has spoken to the board on several occasions, was angry.

“Why are these families still being discriminated against? Why has this school not been inspected for four to five years?” she shouted. “These are children with immune deficiencies, medical complexity. I mean, I don’t understand why the state is not coming down on you all.”

And Adrian Wood, a PhD who runs the popular blog, “Tales of an Educated Debutante”, drove in from out of town to call out what she characterized as “lies” being told by WCPS officials and to support the Edgewood community — in part, because her son has special needs and she considers herself “a member of the different type of community.”

“One piece of information was there were only four schools in the state like this one. That is a lie. I spoke to DPI this morning. There are 12. Another thing was it is against the law to have a public school with pre-K children to twelfth-graders. Again, that is a lie. That is not law. Why lie? I think that’s what makes people nervous,” she said. “The last lie is about least restrictive environment. That does not mean that children have to be with their typically developing peers. What it says, according to law, is in selecting the least restrictive environment, the placement decision is made by the IEP team, which includes families. I think y’all need to step back and think about families. Just for a minute, think about families.”

Brianna Edgerton, a teacher at the school, spoke because she was thinking about the students — and told the board about a host of issues she said makes the facility unfit for learning.

Like flooding in the school’s breezeway.

“If I can’t pick up your kid … they have soggy feet all day,” she said.

And a pest and rodent issue she said she wouldn’t get into because it “would take too much time.”

She also addressed lead on campus, telling the board that staff is constantly on “high alert” to make sure “no-one is peeling paint off the walls, which happens often.”

“Our students are our top priority and their needs are not being accommodated in our current location,” she said. “For right now, Edgewood is not suitable for our students.”

Karla Carter disagrees. She acknowledged that the Edgewood facility “has problems.”

“But it’s home,” she said. “And it’s been home for all our children.”

So what now?

As of the end of the board meeting, no final decision has been made on the placement of Edgewood students, or whether or not the facility will be open in the fall.

A meeting with parents is scheduled for Thursday at Meadow Lane — a gathering parents were notified about via the following letter:

And after they tour the building and an inspection of the Edgewood campus is complete, the board will hold a special meeting to answer the looming question about the school’s fate.

But even if the school remains open, Strickland remains concerned about the future.

“We need help. We need help from the County Commissioners. We need help from the City Council. And we need help from the state House and Senate,” she said. “I want the independent school, but we need the county, we need the city, and we need the state to come through with the operational funds. If we can get this thing built, we still need to operate.”