Teachers.net is blogging that the school is be closed is Jones Elementary School.  That would make sense.  The school is in disrepair and mostly serves a hispanic population.  Yes, racism still exist. 

However, rumor has it that two other schools are also being considered:  Oakwood Elementary and McEver Elementary.  Don’t put much stock in the closing of Oakwood.  Though it would make sense economically, it would be a political firestorm.  McEver does make some sense.  Like Jones it is in a state of disrepair and it also serves a very high hispanic population.  What makes McEver even more attractive is that unlike Jones it doesn’t have a history of being one of the original community schools. 

Community schools were all the range in the 1950’s.  When Gainesville was a thriving mill village town, each Mill had its own community school.  New Holland, Gainesville Mill, Chicopee, Riverbend and even Flowery Branch were once K-12 schools built to serve only that community.  Chicopee later became Jones Elementary.  That paradigm has shifted, but most older Hall County residents still remember this tradition.  McEver doesn’t have this tradition to hold on to, so it may be the first on the chopping block.