Gaston Point Elementary forum

More than a hundred residents gathered at the Gaston Point Community Center wanting answers on the future of Gaston Point Elementary School.

Questions were on the minds of many as locals piled into the Gaston Point Community Center, looking to get the who, what, when, where, and why on their neighborhood school. State Representative Sonya Williams-Barnes said, “I think the primary gripe is they weren’t aware of the closing. It was not brought to the full community, maybe in small groups, but not to the community as a whole.”

The primary reason to close Gaston Point Elementary is the decline in enrollment and moving students to West Elementary will benefit everyone and save money. Gulfport Superintendent Glen East said, “History is important. I think tradition is important, but at the end of the day for us, it’s about putting our children in the best possible situations we can with the best possible teachers that we can.”

At the meeting, locals had the chance to express their concerns to East. One community leader tells News 25 things changed when the previous principal of the school left. Community Leader Rickey Toles said, “It just seems like since our leadership changed over at the school with the principal everything started going down from there. It just seems like they are attacking our kids out here and it’s not right.”

The next step is to make recommendations to the school board. The community will remain passionate behind education and the importance of what Gaston Point Elementary means to the area. “Our neighborhood schools are the heartbeats of our community. That’s important to home owners and those that are here in the community.”

“There’s not a person in this room I think is against the children in our community. It’s a good group of people. I think you will have some who want to hang onto the history, but eventually will say this is what we need to do for our kids and that’s the conversation we need to have.”