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LEEC OUNTY - Could school choice in Lee County be on it's way out?

District officials discussed the possibility of going to neighborhood schools this week in a school board meeting. So what does the new school superintendent think? Four In Your corner's Colleen Hogan got his reaction.

I caught up with Dr. Joseph Burke at a town-hall meeting about transportation issues saturday. I questioned him about the future of school choice in Lee County.

During a town-hall meeting, one parent told district brass that school choice should get a failing grade, saying it's too expensive for taxpayers to be bussing students all around the county to their school of choice. So what does the school superintendent think?

"What is the future of school choice here in Lee County?" Hogan asked Burke.

"Well, I don't really know at this time because one of the things we said we wanted to do, and several board members really supported this, was to do a survey of the community about school choice," Burke said. "We're looking right now at  how to do that."

Burke attended the town-hall to meet with parents and hear their concerns directly. But he's also been hearing concerns from school board member Don Armstrong, who wants to phase out school choice for
all students expect high-schoolers, saying the move could save the district millions in transportation costs.

"Whatever decision we make, about school choice verses neighborhood schools and all that, we don't want it to compromise the effectiveness of the education for the children," Burke said.

Burke says he wants to hire an outside company, not from the area, to come in eventually and survey residents on school choice. We'll let you know when that happens.