Birmingham superintendent offers revised school closings plan

After taking the input of the public, Birmingham Schools Superintendent Craig Witherspoon has announced some changes to the cuts and closings that were recommended for the school system.

On Friday morning, Witherspoon announced these changes:

-Carver High School will remain a 9-12 school

-South Hampton will be a K-8 school

-Witherspoon is backing off of a recommendation for a 7-12 school for Woodlawn

-Putnam Middle School will now stay open

-Norwood Elementary School and Lewis Elementary School students will go to the old Kirby School

-Consolidation at Jackson is now recommended for consolidation at Hemphill Elementary.

The new plan is to close six schools. It is expected to save from $300,000 to $350,000 yearly for each school.

School Board President April Williams says the "plan clearly reflects the feedback we had from the community." The School Board held three meetings to gather input from the community about the school plan over the past week.

Originally, seven schools were slated to close and 133 layoffs were expected. So far, Witherspoon has not said if the changes in the plan will affect the planned layoffs.

"Always we have to meet our financial obligations but we must do what we feel is the best for the community but also from an instructional point of view," Witherspoon said.

The Birmingham school board will vote on the plan next Tuesday. The state must ultimately agree with the plan, Witherspoon says. Ed Richardson, who heads the intervention team, was informed of these changes yesterday.

To see the new recommendations and the old ones, click here.

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