Lowe said 378 fewer students than expected arrived at the beginning of last school year. So far, at least 60 more ACS students have been accepted for transfer to other school systems. There could be more; Lowe said the schools might not know how many students will transfer until closer to the beginning of the school year.

“Lapel is actually driving a bus into our district and picking kids up,” she said.

It’s a confounding situation for parents and educators who say ACS is getting a bum rap.

Andrea Clapp, president of ACS Parents Advisory Council and a member of the North Side Middle School Parents Club, has a daughter at North Side and a son at Anderson High School.

Given the option to choose, she said the family considered transferring to Lapel.

“We thought about sending the kids there, but actually Anderson has everything the kids need; it’s just not put out there,” she said, noting that ACS offers programs such as ROTC that aren’t always available elsewhere.

Facing difficulties in ACS, she said, “You don’t just put your tail down and run, you band together with other people and make a difference.”

“The reason for me it is so troubling is that the perception of (ACS) is poor right now, and that’s very unfortunate,” Lowe said. She said the system offers more advanced-placement courses than any other county district, and students compete at a high level.

“Our kids have a lot more opportunity than kids in other districts do,” she said. “We somehow have to change the perception that our kids are not getting a good education.”

Muir said the system and teachers often are blamed for circumstances over which they have no control. He said a graduation rate of just over 50 percent is an example.

“Certainly everyone would like to see the graduation rate increase, but there’s no magic wand. The bottom line is, young people today, far too many don’t have the support system in their lives of someone who guides them and supports them and stresses the importance of education,” Muir said.

“We have a curriculum I would match against any,” he said. “I would match our staff against any, and we have a great community. There’s a lot that needs to be accomplished. There’s no single answer, and it takes a lot of parental involvement.”

Clapp agreed, but said accountability for students, teachers and parents is lacking at ACS. “We’ve just gone so far from accountability to blame and it’s not getting us anywhere.”

Lowe said ACS needs a long-range plan that spells out what will happen with schools, facilities, and their grade-level structures as enrollment declines.

“The board really needs, and the community, to have some difficult discussions about how to make this work,” she said.