The most egregious example is the residential development adjacent to Thomasville Primary School. Owners of several homes can literally walk out their back door and be on city school property. You would think that proximity would be a huge advantage for marketing the neighborhood. But a large sign advertises their primary selling point....”great county schools!”. And realtors capitalize on that point constantly. For years, I’ve begged the realtors association to actually do a tour of Thomasville’s schools to dispel some of the negative stereotype.
Admittedly, some of Thomasville’s schools have suffered regarding test scores. But it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, there’s white flight. But more importantly, there’s been a huge loss of two parent, middle class families of all races. While kids from non traditional households can certainly excel, it’s much more difficult. Sometimes it’s apathy at home. Sometimes, it’s a single parent busting their tails just to survive and can’t always participate at school. And two parent families typically are able to be more involved, not only with their kids, but with PTAs, boosters organizations, etc..
Unfortunately, the only logical solution is merger and redistricting. The former will eventually happen. The latter is socially and politically unacceptable for many people, and for most elected officials. So the wheel keeps turning and the folks at TCS do the best they can.
