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It was standing room only as the Dougherty County School Board held the first of two public hearings regarding the possible closure of schools.

A consultant that was hired by school officials addressed the public about how the possible closure of Magnolia Elementary, Sylvester Road Elementary and Dougherty Middle School could save the school system millions of dollars.

“The estimated savings from the proposal is $2 million dollars annually in terms of maintenance and operations,” said Eric Bosman, Kimberly-Horn and Associates Consultant.

After Bosman informed the crowd of the results of the study, 15 people came forward with their concerns. Many of them say, for officials, it's more about the money and not the students, particularly those on the east side of Albany attending Dougherty Middle School and Sylvester Road Elementary.

“I want to ask whether or not anybody has done a study to see what that neighborhood has to go through after the schools have been removed,” said Leon Gardner, Pastor of New Birth Fellowship Church.

Gardner says when schools leave; neighborhoods go down, leaving empty spaces for vagrants and crime. Then there's the effect on students.

“Did anybody take a look at how it's going to affect these children once they get bused to the different schools,” said Leon Gardner.

School officials say if Magnolia were to close, students will be split to attend either Live Oak Elementary or Alice Coachman. Live Oak currently has an occupancy of 66 percent. If it’s decided that Magnolia students will be moved to that facility, the occupancy will rise to more than 90 percent.

It’s proposed that Sylvester Road Elementary be rezoned to Turner Elementary.

Although the proposed plan has been released to the public, officials say nothing is set in stone.

“Based on the feedback we received tonight, we're going to go back and look at some of those other alternatives and options and see if one of those better meets the public's expectation,” said Eric Bosman.

The next public hearing for the closure of schools will be held Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM.

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