When you look for a place to live, if you have kids part of the process is checking out the schools nearby.  But what do you do if the system changes the schools?  It's happening in West Chatham and a lot of parents are upset.

Right now Bloomingdale Elementary is a fine arts magnet school, but the district wants to turn Bloomingdale back into a typical elementary and move the arts program elsewhere. Tuesday night parents had a chance to tell the school board actually what they thought of the move.

Emotions ran high as parents confronted school board members and school Superintendent Dr. Thomas Lockamy over the decision to move the schools magnet program from Bloomingdale to Garrison Elementary; a school inside Savannah city limits and in an area parents were less than thrilled about. Especially after they read the crime stats.

"Twelve grand theft autos, four violent robberies, five aggravated assaults, one rape point three miles from the school and two homicides," one parent read off to the crowd.

Another parent had different statistics, "I've got ten people on a list that live within a mile from the school that have been convicted of and are registered sex offenders."

"I've driven through that neighborhood five different times and I feared for my life," said another parent.

Safety isn't their only concern. The magnet program would be for grades Pre-K through eighth grade, putting all the students under one roof. "How can you can you ensure the safety of my 4-year-old with an eighth grader?" asked one parent.

Other concerns include, what would happen to students who choose not to go to Garrison? Would they be grandfathered in at Bloomingdale, or sent back to their district schools? "Obviously there's a problem in our home schools if we're bringing our children to another zone," one parent said to board members.

Parents feel they have no choices, and what they were saying was also falling on deaf ears.  "Parents these are elected officials, take them out!" said one parent.

The crowd cheered on, many yelling at school board member Julie Gerbsch; the member this community elected in. Gerbsch took it with stride and tried to explain the decision to move the program. "I believe we have the rationale and case for that, but the problem is we can't get heard now because we didn't take time first to let community give input, before the board made the decision. So I understand the frustration," said Gerbsch.

Board members listened to parents concerns for two hours.  "They can sit there and listen, but will they change their minds?  I don't think so. I hope they do, so we'll have to wait and see what happens," said parent Jamie Davis.

Pamela Garrish agrees, "I think they hear what we're saying, but basically it's a done deal." Gerbsch also doesn't think the magnet program will be saved, but she does say a lot of good suggestions came out of the meeting and she believes there's a better solution.