After the parents of children at Goucher Elementary were not able to convince the school board to keep the school open, they gathered for a meeting this past Saturday. Around 30 parents attended the meeting at the Goucher-White Plains volunteer fire department across from the elementary school. They came to the conclusion that they would try to open their own charter school once they have enough money to purchase the Goucher school building. A charter school is a public school which operates separately from school districts based on a charter granted by a state organization.

Parents of the Goucher community tried to keep their school open but the school district was not willing to discuss the matter with the parents. Many Goucher parents have little interest in sending their children to Limestone-Central Elementary School, as the school board suggests.

Jimmy Lamb, a member of a “Save our Schools” group to keep Goucher Elementary open, says, “We’ve had 300 students from Goucher and surrounding areas who expressed an interest in attending a charter school in the Goucher community.” He went on to state, “The school district has declined to meet with us and has not been willing to work with us on another solution so Goucher can stay open. The school board has left us with no choice except to look at other options for our children.”