Biloxi Journal - A School Closing That Some See as Fiscal Responsibility, Others Racism - NYTimes.com: BILOXI, Miss. — It still looks like a happy, thriving school: child-size chairs in the cafeteria, yellow buses in the parking lot, a marquee sign that declares “Tomorrow’s Leaders Begin Here.”
But unless things change before next month, this city is going to close its top-ranked school, Nichols Elementary, to save about $400,000 a year — less than 1 percent of the school district’s $50 million budget. Worse than that, say residents of the poor and largely black east side of Biloxi, the neighborhood is losing one of its chief sources of pride and cohesion.
The question of whether closing the school is an act of fiscal prudence or discrimination has become an explosive subject in Biloxi, reopening age-old racial divides. Nearly 90 percent of the school’s students are black or Asian, while the four School Board members who voted in April for the closing are white.
“I simply cannot get my arms around it,” said William Stallworth, the only black member of the City Council, who is lobbying the board to reverse its decision before classes begin on Aug. 11. “What kind of city closes its best school?”
