Sutton Middle School’s parking lot is a goose that’s laying a golden egg every year for the school Parent Teacher Association, and the money is quickly becoming an issue in a debate over plans to turn Sutton into a sixth grade academy.
According to IRS figures, the parking lot keeps the PTA’s bank account flush. People attending concerts at Chastain Park Amphitheater can pay to park at Sutton, and the arrangement provided the PTA with $103,000 in 2010, or 82 percent of the group’s event fund raising.
“This is our biggest fundraiser and thanks to it, we don’t ask you to sell gift wrap or put on a big auction,” the PTA says on the school’s website.
The PTA spends the money on a variety of school projects, from teacher grants to academic clubs.
Under Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis’ current redistricting proposal, Sutton will eventually become a sixth grade academy feeding into a middle school for seventh and eighth grade students at the current North Atlanta High School campus.
Parents in support of this idea say it will “Keep Sutton Together,” but it will also keep the Chastain parking money flowing into one bank account, according to Sutton PTA co-president Leigh Darby.
Some parents in the North Atlanta cluster say they’d rather have two smaller middle schools when Atlanta’s Board of Education approves the final rezoning maps for their cluster.
Darby said if that happens, one school’s PTA will lose out on thousands of dollars in annual revenue.
“Someone gets the benefit of the Chastain parking,” Darby said.
Meetinthemiddleaps.com asks the Atlanta BOE to delay a final decision on a sixth grade academy when it approves the redistricting maps. Kelly Prewitt, a Warren T. Jackson Elementary parent and a member of the Meet in the Middle group said they are “aware of the annuity” Sutton receives from Chastain parking.
Prewitt said proponents of having two middle schools are willing to compromise. She said the two schools could agree to split the parking revenue down the middle.
Here are additional figures on Sutton’s parking money compiled from IRS reports:
2010
Chastain parking generated: $103,038
Gross income total from all events: $126,306
Net: $109,807
2009
Chastain parking generated: $72,717
Gross income total from all events: $113,374
Net: $86,312
2008
Chastain parking generated: $87,994
Gross income total from all events: $160,909
Net: $103,171
Source: IRS
The pro and anti-sixth grade academy camps met at the Chastain Park Civic Association meeting on Monday, March 26. Parents in favor of two middle schools presented a petition of around 500 signatures to District 4 school board member Nancy Meister and board Chairman Reuben McDaniel.
Parents in favor of the sixth grade academy think its important for sixth graders to have a year apart from their peers to adjust to the transition from elementary to middle school. Parents in favor of two middle schools say the students would be harmed by the additional transition.
There are also questions about whether each school will be equally diverse and whether the facilities will be equal for both groups of students.
Even with the academic arguments, its hard to ignore what the parking money adds to the Sutton PTA’s budget. It’s essentially easy money that provides the bulk of the cash the PTA uses to help students and teachers.
Sutton’s neighbor a little farther south has a tougher time raising money.
Inman Middle School in fiscal 2011 took in $38,000 from magazine sales, its highest fundraiser, but incurred $16,676 in direct expenses from the event, according to its IRS report. Its gross income for that year from all events was about $82,000, but after expenses it came out to be about $49,000.
Compare that with Sutton, which netted $110,000 from all events in 2010, most of that coming from the Chastain parking. Unlike Inman, Sutton had no direct expenses for running the parking fundraiser.
Darby said Sutton’s PTA puts the money to good use. She said her most recent figures show the PTA spent $11,000 on teacher grants, $14,000 on sports and $14,000 on academic clubs.
“It provides lots of opportunities,” Darby said.
