Inside Valerie Toles' Gilmore Lane Elementary classroom, she keeps a wall of pictures of her students. There are seven years of memories.
"Everything is about creating a safe environment," she said.
But Toles and many others say a plan by JCPS to close Gilmore Lane isn't what's best for the school's 250 students. Toles' kids have educational disabilities and with a change of schools, she worries, "That they get lost. That they won't continue to grow like they are growing now," she told WHAS11.
JCPS leaders shared their facilities plan to Gilmore Lane teachers and parents Wednesday night of a possible consolidation with Indian Trail Elementary.
Parent Erin Zimmerman believes Indian Trail doesn't have the room to take in all of Gilmore's students. "We are a family. We are a small school. Everybody knows everybody. We shouldn't be forced to separate," she said.
JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio says combining the two schools, and building a newer one, is the best long-term solution. "I believe the facilities that the students walk into are symbolic about how much we care about their education. It's not the only thing, but it's very important," he said.
Toles says for her and her students having a stable learning environment should be the priority.
"That's my biggest fear. It's that someone won't recognize their potential and they have so much," Toles said.
Under the JCPS plan, Liberty High School, which is an alternative school, would move to Gilmore Elementary School.
There are 11 total schools that would be affected by the district's facilities plan. Dr. Pollio will meet with the parents and teachers of all of those schools before the school board votes on the final plan which could take place in February or March.