Of the 16 messages the board received, roughly half of them concerned the Arts or AIM academies.
“I understand you are trying to make the most of what we have here but if there is any way the Arts Academy can remain the way it is and a K-8 school, I feel like I would not be the only one relieved,” wrote Angela Bilbrey, whose children are in kindergarten, second, sixth and eighth grades at Arts Academy. “We chose to have our children there because, to me, it just feels like a better option for a school.”
Jennifer Anderson questioned moving seventh- and eighth-graders from the Arts Academy to middle schools that won’t be renovated for at least another year. The restructuring plan calls for expanding Crenshaw Middle School to add a gymnasium and dedicated space for industrial arts and extensive renovations to the STEAMM Academy at Hartford to create an exhibition area, theater, greenhouse, maker space and woodshop.