Mood at Akard Elementary event somber as officials consider closing school

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Thursday night’s PTA meeting was a special time for a group of Akard Elementary School parents who packed the school’s cafeteria to see its third- and fourth-graders sing Christmas songs.

But the mood was somewhat somber, because right before the students sang the first notes of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Akard’s administrators hinted the event may be the last Winter PTA Program the school hosts in its 46-year history.

“We’ve been in the news again,” Principal Garry Booker said, referring to recent articles about a Sullivan County Board of Education proposal to close the school and send its 130 students to Blountville Elementary School.

County school officials estimate they could save $250,000 per year if they close Akard, which is off state Route 126 between Bristol and Blountville. The money would go toward paying off a $15.4 million bond issue the school board took out in November to renovate and expand Ketron Intermediate School, which is north of Kingsport in the county’s Bloomingdale community.

“We need your help,” Booker said, pleading with Akard’s parents to do what they can to stop those plans before the board’s final vote.

During its Oct. 28 meeting, the school board unanimously approved plans to consider closing Akard along with Bloomingdale’s Cedar Grove and Kingsley elementary schools as a way to save $1 million, which would be used to pay down the Ketron bonds.

Of the three schools, Akard would be the first to close because there’s space for its students at Blountville Elementary, while there’s not yet space for Kingsley and Cedar Grove pupils.

“I hate it, I really do,” Akard parent Tammy Buchanan said of the possible closing Thursday night.

Buchanan’s son, Jonah, is a fourth-grader at Akard and dressed as a dancing reindeer for the school’s Christmas play.
She said there’s “a general consensus” among parents that the school should not be shuttered because many have sent more than one child there and feel a real connection to the school.

That’s the case with Buchanan’s other son, Micah, who went to the school two years ago. But many think it may be too late to stop the closing, she added.

“It looks like there’s nothing we can do and that’s pretty bad,” Buchanan said.

While she asked parents to call every county commissioner and school board member to voice their feelings, PTA President Diane Staubus offered a glimmer of hope. She said she talked to Ron Smith, chairman of the school board, who told her that board members will meet with Akard parents in January.

Smith did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.

Staubus said a meeting would give parents a chance to share their concerns in person.

Staubus said Smith promised her the board would wait until after this meeting to make a final decision.

“I hope that will rest with you,” she said. “I don’t want this school to close.”

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