Whitney Peckman, Salisbury, N.C.
**Updated Sunday: East Spencer Town Meeting will be held at 6:30 P.M. Monday January 4th at the East Spencer Town Hall at the Municipal Building at 105 South Long Street, East Spencer, N.C.**
Kids in East Spencer, NC haven’t had their own school in over 45 years. There is no library, bank, or grocery store in the town, and no community center since 2005. ES is very poor, has high unemployment, and is particularly underserved considering that the county uses the demographics for funding projects outside of ES. We have asked the School Board to turn over the administration building (which originally was a school for whites only, and which they will soon vacate) to our group for development as the Sankofa Community Center. We are able to begin programs almost immediately, and in August 2017, It will also house the Paul L Dunbar Charter School. We, the working Board of Directors of PLDCS, believe that our community needs a “family home” for the school and, immediately, for the wrap-around services that go into supporting a neighborhood school. Much research has been done on the needs of families (often with single parents) in high poverty areas – we know these kids need a lot of remedial work to make them ready for kindergarten. Our wrap-around design merges programs for parents, teens, pre-schoolers, and elders. We strive to create the kind of supportive base that kids need to excel as we know they can – given a chance.
The problem is that the Town of ES wants the building for senior housing. However, the Dept. of N.C. State Treasurer has notified the town that they have “serious financial problems” and is “concerned that the current level of fund balance available may be too low to provide your government the necessary amount of savings needed to provide case flow during periods of declining revenues or ebbing case inflows.” It is clear that the Town cannot take on the size of debt it would take to rehab an old school building into housing for seniors.
Win or lose, we will continue with our charter school plans, BUT it will not be able to be birthed as part of the bigger vision and badly needed Community Center for families in need, if we can’t get the old school building for our “house”. Our kids deserve their own neighborhood school – a place to build pride and confidence that their little town can be there for their children. And their families deserve a viable community center in which they can rebuild the sense of community that has been destroyed over the past many years. We ask that you support our vision of a better future for the families of East Spencer, NC.
So many, many thanks for your help!
Videos I and II Deep Problems and No School in East Spencer with Kenneth Lydell Muhammad-El and Whitney Peckman:
To sign the Change.org petition in support of the SANKOFA Community Center and the Paul L. Dunbar Charter School for East Spencer: