The office of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is disputing accusations that the reason he asked schools to close for two early 鈥渟now days鈥� on Sept. 26 and 27 was to save enough fuel to harvest the state鈥檚 crops this fall.
According to an Oct. 6 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, lobbyists for Georgia鈥檚 oil and gas industry 鈥渕et with top administration aides鈥� just hours before the governor announced the request at a Friday-afternoon press conference Sept. 23.
Their conversation, the newspaper reported, included the suggestion that farmers were worried about their harvest, and that closing schools for two days would save 225,000 gallons of gas a day. Gov. Perdue cited the same figures when he made his request, which noted possible supply disruptions from the then-approaching Hurricane Rita. (鈥淩ita Closes Many Texas, Louisiana Schools,鈥� Oct. 5, 2005.)
But Dan McLagan, the governor鈥檚 spokesman, said last week that there was no such meeting. He said members of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, which is in charge of fuel storage in the state, had been having ongoing conference calls with oil and gas representatives, school districts, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other groups that were concerned about the supply of diesel fuel following Hurricane Katrina.
Some school districts, he added, were already expecting to run out of fuel by Wednesday, Sept. 28.
State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox publicly supported the governor鈥檚 decision, even though she voiced sympathy with parents who had to scramble to find arrangements for their children when all but three of Georgia鈥檚 180 school districts heeded the governor鈥檚 call to close.
But Ms. Cox鈥攚ho, like Mr. Perdue, is a Republican鈥攊s being criticized for standing by the governor. 鈥淲hen Gov. Sonny Perdue debated closing public schools to save gasoline, the most vociferous voice in protest should have belonged to Kathy Cox,鈥� wrote an editorial writer in the Journal-Constitution on Oct. 10. 鈥淚nstead, hers was among the most restrained.鈥�
Dana Tofig, a spokesman for the state education department, said, 鈥淪he had to trust that he was doing the best for the state.鈥�
