Save Germantown High group rallies at Vernon Park [Gallery]
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<p>Despite a cold wind, residents turned out for the rally. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Charles and his fellow dance-group members raise their hands in support of the rally. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>The rally came one day before school district hearings on the closing plan. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>State Sen. Shirley Kitchen said legal action might be undertaken but referred questions to attorney (and former-mayoral son) Sharif Street. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>GHS drummers accompanied the cries to keep their school open. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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state rep Stephen Kinsey. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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<p>Germantown Alumni Association President Verna Primus chats with resident Greg Paulmier and state Rep. Stephen Kinsey. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Community activist and block captain Theodore Stones addressed the Vernon Park crowd. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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![<p><p>"We want Dr. [William] Hite to come to Germantown," said GHS Alumni Association President Verna Primus of the superintendent. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p></p>](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08bs0/bs0471_20130220_1316203646.jpg "bs0471_20130220_1316203646")
<p>"We want Dr. [William] Hite to come to Germantown," said GHS Alumni Association President Verna Primus of the superintendent. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>State Rep. and GHS grad Stephen Kinsey said the plan doesn't include education for "our kids and our community." (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>At the rally, Matthew Pillischer talked about a documentary he worked on regarding social issues. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>This was the latest in a series of rallies organized by Save Germantown High and Action United. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Though GHS was not taken off the closure list, attendees held out hope. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Community activist and block captain Theodore Stones had questions about the legality of the process. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Calls for a moratorium and anti-privatization messages were on display at Wednesday's Vernon Park rally against closing nearby Germantown High School. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Alumni, students and community leaders rallied in Vernon Park in a fleeting effort to save Germantown High School from closing. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
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<p>Alumnus Doug Grasko leafs through the pages of his '71 yearbook. (Bas Slabbers/for NewsWorks)</p>
While the Save Germantown High group has held numerous rallies in an effort to help the nearly century-old school at Germantown Ave. and High St. escape the district’s closure plan, Wednesday’s Vernon Park gathering came just one day after GHS was not one of those spared.
Both state Rep. Stephen Kinsey, who graduated GHS in 1976, and alumni group president Vera Primus have vowed to fight on.
Also among the crowd of roughly two dozen supporters was state Sen. Shirley Kitchen, community activists with Action United and GHS students, parents, teachers and alumni.
Signs called for a school-closing moratorium.
“We want [Superintendent William] Hite to come to Germantown,” said Primus, of a statement Hite made during an earlier community meeting at Martin Luther King High School, where some GHS students would attend in the closing plan.
Kinsey lauded attendees.
“We know the weather is cool, but your hearts are hot,” he said of a plan that doesn’t look out for “our kids and our community.”
Kitchen alluded to possible legal action, but didn’t go into detail, saying that attorney (and former-mayoral son) Sharif Street could better explain their strategy.
What’s next?
On Thursday, the city’s School Reform Commission will kick-off a trio of public hearings on the district’s recommended building and program closures.
The SRC is scheduled to vote on all of the district’s right-sizing recommendations March 7.
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