JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Jefferson Parish Public School parents are getting their first look at the "Proposed Attendance Zone Shifts" maps.
The JP School Board will vote to approve the maps on Monday, deciding where thousands of students will attend class this fall.
The JP School Board voted earlier this month to move forward with an outside consultant's recommendation to close and relocate certain schools due to declining enrollment across the district.
Whitney Kennedy and Alexis Gordon's students attend Mildred Harris Elementary in Bridge City.
It's one of several schools that will close at the end of the school year.
Both Kennedy and Gordon believe the closure will not only affect their families, but the community. They both work at a daycare a few steps away from the school.
"I have before and after school parents for Mildred Harris and they’re coming to me and they’re like, what are we going to do? I don’t have an answer for them, and I feel so bad. They come in with tears in their eyes," Kennedy said, “It’s just a little heartbreaking.”
Families will have to figure out before and after care before next school year.
“Some parents literally go to work at 6 in the morning and they drop their kids off," Gordon said.
Not to mention, parents at Mildred Harris are wondering how their students will get to and from school.
“A lot of parents that we have for before and after school don’t have transportation," Kennedy said, “We can’t count on the bus.”
According to the proposed Jefferson Parish School's maps and where they live, their children will be sent to Emmett Gilbert Elementary in Westwego.
“I feel like you’re setting my child up, both of my children up, to fail," Gordon said.
Kennedy's top concerns are transportation and student safety.
“I feel like my children are safe. It’s a safe school. I just don’t know what we’re going to do," Kennedy said about Mildred Harris.
The plan will impact around 6,000 students or 13 percent of the district.
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