MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Several individuals have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court opposing Shelby County Schools’ planned closure of South Side Middle School.
The plaintiffs disagreed with the plan to send students to Riverview Middle School, a school in the iZone.
“We’re trying to stop it,” said South Side teacher and plaintiff Tondalaya Jackson.
She said the school was a fixture in the neighborhood, and she would like to see students stay in a “community school.”
Jackson believed that if the district provided South Side with more resources the school’s performance would improve.
The school board voted on several school consolidations about two months ago citing poor performance and low enrollment.
Jackson explained how Riverview has gotten close to being on the chopping block before, when the board considered sending its students to Carver High School.
Attorney Paul Robinson, who represented the teachers, students and neighbors named in the lawsuit, attended South Side.
He said the area around Riverview was known to have gang issues.
The school sits in an area where the District Attorney General filed a nuisance petition to combat the Riverside Rollin’ 90’s Neighborhood Crips.
Robinson said he believed the district’s actions could violate the 14th Amendment, because Riverview provided an inferior education for children.
“We want to move kids forward. We want to improve or enhance their education and not move backwards in the quality of the academics or even the environment,” Robinson said.
WREG reached out to SCS for its side of the story.
SCS responded with a statement saying, “We do not comment on pending legal issues.”