To the friends of CCSD St. Andrews District 10: On the issue of converting Drayton Hall Elementary to a charter school there are some facts that seem to have been over looked or ignored.  Not only at issue is Drayton Elementary but every elementary in the West Ashley district. Of 738 eligible parent voters only 274 voted (37.1%).  264 in favor and 10 opposed the conversion.  I am curious to know whether the other 2/3 of the parents actually received their ballots or if they understood the result of this conversion. Are the parents of Shadowmoss, Village Green, and McLaurel Hall and the rest of neighborhoods in this schools zone aware that this school will be a county wide school and not a District 10 school?  Are they aware that if they do not have children currently enrolled, they will be enrolled in a county wide lottery?   Are these same parents aware if they have a child that leaves Drayton Hall and have a younger child that is not yet enrolled, the younger child will also be placed into the lottery?  State charter laws require all charter schools to have their zones changed from the normal zones that were assigned by the constituent board to the entire county. Admission will be based on a county wide lottery. Students not selected by the lottery will be moved to one of the other District 10 schools. Stono Elementary and Oakland Elementary are now at capacity.  I believe that Springfield Elementary has approximately 50 available. Moving student into schools that are at capacity means adding mobile class rooms (trailers).  The local constituent board is in the process of preparing to rezone all of the district 10 elementary schools in response to this possibility. In District 10 we already need two additional elementary level schools; to remove another one from the equation will be a disaster of unequaled proportion. The result being less funding to the remaining schools, severe overcrowding, added transportation expenses due to transferring students from their neighborhood school zone to a school farther away and the addition of mobile classrooms. Generally I am in support of a parent’s right to choose where their children attend and what type of school is available; in this particular case I am not. If you are a parent in West Ashley I urge you to call the CCSD School board trustees that have voted for this change to insist they reconsider their vote. Not one county trustee has asked any constituent board member what impact this conversion would have on the district’s other schools. Their contact information is available on the CCSD web site.  I urge you to ask these same trustees to think of all of our children and not just the ones that may benefit from a charter school. To the trustees that have voted against this change I say from the bottom of my heart; thank-you for voting for all the children of the West Ashley District and not just for the immediate few. On December 4th this vote will come up for a final decision, so there is no time to waste; contact your CCSD trustee today.  The time has come for the silent majority to stand up and be heard for the sake of our children. Russell Johnson, Chairman District 10 Constituent School Board. 2304 Brevard Road, Charleston, SC  29414 843-991-7510 Russsbs@comcast.net