Yesterday, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church reached an agreement to purchase the Brownsville Middle School. The church had an anonymous donor contribute $200,000 to met the asking price of Superintendent Malcolm Thomas of $1 million. The contribution prevented a possible confrontation between Thomas and the school board. Board member Linda Moultrie was prepared to make a motion to lower the price to $800,000, an amount that the church’s board believed was more manageable for them.
I spoke with Rev. May this morning. He reminded me that the acquisition of Brownsville Middle has really been a three-year process. He was encouraged by the community support for the project over the past week. He has been inundated with positive phone calls and e-mails.
“Our work has just begun,” Rev. May said. “We want to be known for our accomplishments. Acquiring the property isn’t really the most important step. It’s an important one, but it may be the easiest one.”