CENTRE — The tiny meeting chamber was packed with a standing-room-only crowd, and the line of people waiting to have their voices heard spilled out the door and onto the sidewalk at the July 19 meeting of the Cherokee County Board of Education. 

Parents, teachers and students, who varied in demeanor from upset, to disheartened, to downright angry, spent three hours taking their turn in front of Board members and Superintendent Brian Johnson Tuesday night. Their desire for the Board to figure out some way to keep the Career and Technology Center (CTC) open for the 2011-12 school year was unanimous. 

“Y’all do what you got to do, the ball’s in your court,” said one man. “But if y’all close the trade school I’m going to start looking into sending my son to Hokes Bluff or Piedmont.” 

One woman told Johnson and the Board members she was “ashamed” of them all, for the decision they made and how they went about it. Another warned of their possible fates, come election time. 

“We put you in here and we [are going to] put you out,” said the woman, who was not identified. 

Other speakers were more positive. Former educator Mildred Ivey, who organized a meeting of parents and teachers in Leesburg July 15, offered several suggestions to the Board when she rose to speak, including borrowing money against the former Centre Middle School property and a countywide, one-cent sales tax (which would have to be approved by local government officials).

 Ivey also said she hoped everyone could find a way to work together to keep the CTC open. 

“This is not a witch hunt, we are not shooting arrows,” Ivey said. “We just see a problem and want to get it fixed.” 

Faced with the need to save $1.5 million for the upcoming school year due to state education budget cuts, the Board voted July 5 on a comprehensive “reduction in force” plan that included eliminating 15 jobs, consolidating bus routes, cutting teacher contracts and closing the CTC. 

Losing the centralized tech school campus means the elimination of four programs and the relocation of the seven remaining programs to campuses within the county school system. 

At the town meeting in Leesburg last Friday, Johnson admitted he and the Board had done a poor job of keeping the public informed about the budget discussions that led to the decision to close the CTC.

“If there is one thing I have heard over the last week or so -- and I have talked to a lot of different individuals, students, parents, concerned community members, employees -- was their concern of a lack of knowledge before the decision was made,” Johnson said July 15. “And I want to personally apologize to you for that.”

Johnson and Board members listened quietly Tuesday night as students who have benefitted from the CTC filed in and spoke passionately about the careers they said they would not be able to enjoy had it not been for their tech classes and instructors.

Several former educators also spoke of the benefits students would miss out on if the campus is closed and the programs realigned or lost.

“So many students aren’t going to college,” said Carol Jordan, a former teacher at the CTC. “They can’t afford it.”

Ed Arnold, Jr. who served as superintendent for over 20 years in the 1970s and ‘80s and faced several steep budget shortfalls during his career, also spoke in favor of keeping the CTC open.

“I know you have some tough decisions to make,” Arnold said. “But in my hearts of hearts, I hope this is not a permanent solution.”

After the last speaker filed back out into the hallway, Rep. Richard Lindsey addressed the crowd. Lindsey said he hoped the Board would be willing to work alongside the governor’s office, the Cherokee County Commission, the City of Centre, and Gadsden State Community College, among others, to try and devise a financial solution that would allow the CTC to remain open.

“The people of Cherokee County have never failed to meet a challenge when it was put before us,” Lindsey said. “We have always been able to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish for our county.”

Lindsey said he is willing to meet with Gov. Robert Bentley and other state and local officials to try and find ways to keep the tech center campus open.

"I'll do whatever I have to do," Lindsey said.

Returning to normal business, Johnson explained to Board members that a reduction in force plan needed to be reinstated because state law requires that a viable budget plan be in place 15 days in advance of the beginning of the school year on Aug. 8.

“With the time frame we’re facing here, we can’t risk starting school with no decision,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, in the very near future, we can come back and say we were able to … get this thing worked out. Believe me, it would be a pleasure to call teachers back in and welcome them back into our system. We’re going to work at it.”

Board members then voted 3-2 to reinstate the current reduction in force plan, with the hope of rescinding it within days, provided the necessary funds -- around $750,000 for a year's operating expenses and salaries at the CTC -- can be secured.

“I agree with everything everyone has said here tonight,” Johnson said as the meeting drew to a close. “None of us wants to close the Career and Tech Center. But due to proration from the state, the county has lost $5.5 million since 2006 and we are losing another $793,500 for the upcoming year. There is a shortfall, and cuts will have to be made somewhere.”

Late in the meeting, Jim Berry, and Alabama Education Association attorney representing several career and tech teachers and administrators who are challenging their transfer to other campuses in the county, told Johnson and the Board members he suspected that they rescinded the July 5 vote because of fears they had violated the state’s open meetings law.

“If you discussed closing this Career and Tech Center in executive session, that’s a violation,” Berry said.

“We don’t feel there was a violation,” Johnson replied.

The Post was informed Thursday morning that Probate Judge Melvyn Salter will hold two public forums Friday morning to discuss the issuance of a temporary, one-cent sales tax that would go to the Board of Education and be earmarked for specific school-related projects, including keeping the Career and Technology Center open indefinitely.

The meetings, one at 10 a.m., the other at 2 p.m., will be held at the First Baptist Church ROC on Chesnut Bypass in Centre. Salter encourages everyone who would like to speak for or against the proposed tax to attend one of the meetings.