Emma E. Booker Elementary School

Emma E. Booker Elementary School

Company type	Public elementary school
Industry	Education
Founded	1989
Headquarters	Sarasota , United States
Area served	Sarasota County Schools district

Emma E. Booker Elementary School is a public primary school located in Sarasota, Florida, established in 1989. It operates under the jurisdiction of Sarasota County Schools and is part of the Booker Schools complex, which also includes a nearby middle and high school. The institution attracted widespread attention nationally when President George W. Bush visited on September 11, 2001, and was informed of the terrorist attacks occurring that day.

The Booker Schools

The Booker Schools bear the name of Emma E. Booker, an African-American educator who began her teaching career at Sarasota County’s first school for black students in 1918. By 1923, she had become the principal of this school, which operated without a dedicated building and functioned in rented spaces with minimal resources.

After Emma Booker raised awareness about the school's needs, the Rosenwald Fund, created by Sears co-owner Julius Rosenwald in 1917 to support financially struggling African-American schools, contributed to building Sarasota’s first African-American school at 7th Street and Lemon Avenue. This facility opened during 1924–25, serving eight grade levels with four classrooms and an auditorium. Emma Booker completed her bachelor’s degree in 1937 after attending college during summers for two decades.

The schools were named in her honor in the late 1930s and later expanded to include a high school. A local editorial remarked: "Emma Booker persisted by personally motivating students, financially supporting their education, and advocating for equal educational opportunities for black students compared to their white peers."

From 1939 until 1989, the Booker Schools operated on a shared campus at Myrtle Street and Orange Avenue. Despite the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown vs. Board of Education, desegregation progressed slowly; by 1966, only 36 African-American students were enrolled in formerly all-white high schools. In 1967, the Sarasota County School Board closed Booker High School, requiring its students to attend the previously all-white Sarasota High School. This decision sparked protests and boycotts within the community, leading to children attending "freedom schools" hosted in local churches. Booker High School was reopened in 1970 and eventually became a Visual and Performing Arts magnet institution. The campus was later divided into Emma E. Booker Elementary School (established 1989) and Booker Middle School (opened 2003), while Booker High School was renovated at its original site.

2001 visit from President Bush

Emma E. Booker Elementary gained global recognition when U.S. President George W. Bush visited on the morning of September 11, 2001, to highlight his administration's education initiatives, particularly the No Child Left Behind Act. It was during this event that President Bush received news of the second plane striking the World Trade Center and delivered his initial public response to the September 11 attacks.

Report of attacks

The initial airplane collided with the World Trade Center roughly ten minutes before Bush's arrival. Upon entering a second-grade classroom under the guidance of Sandra Kay Daniels, Bush introduced Secretary of Education Rod Paige and proceeded to read The Pet Goat alongside the students.

Around 9:05 a.m., White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card leaned over to inform Bush that a second plane had struck the other tower, stating that "America is under attack." Despite this grave news, Bush remained seated for an additional seven minutes, attentively listening as the children continued reading aloud. After they finished, he commended their reading abilities before excusing himself.

In Bill Sammon's Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the White House, it is noted that Press Secretary Ari Fleischer held up a note instructing "Don't say anything yet," which Bush reportedly read despite not wearing glasses. Sammon explains that Bush contemplated leaving to gather more information but ultimately decided to stay, conscious of the optics involved in abruptly departing from an inner-city second-grade classroom during a moment under intense national scrutiny.

Press conference

Bush was slated to hold a brief press briefing in the school library approximately twenty minutes after entering the classroom; however, this event was postponed. When he finally appeared, he acknowledged, "This is a difficult moment for America," and shifted from the intended subject to address the nation regarding the attacks and the government's immediate actions. He subsequently departed for Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

Aftermath

Criticism arose, particularly from Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11, suggesting that Bush’s decision to continue reading after being informed of the attacks reflected hesitation. Conversely, a 9/11 Commission staff report indicated that "The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening."

A week later, Bush sent a letter to the school's principal expressing regret for not remaining longer.

Osama bin Laden referenced this episode in a 2004 videotaped message prior to the 2004 United States presidential election, asserting that Bush’s focus on reading granted hijackers additional time to carry out their plans:

But because it seemed to him that occupying himself by talking to the little girl about the goat and its butting was more important than occupying himself with the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers, we were given three times the period required to execute the operations - all praise is due to Allah.

In later years, both school staff and students defended Bush’s conduct. Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell remarked, "I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it have served if [Bush] had jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room?"

Following bin Laden’s death in 2011, former students Lazaro Dubrocq and Mariah Williams acknowledged Bush’s composure in completing the story. Williams recalled, "I'm just glad he didn't get up and leave because then I would have been more scared and confused." Chantal Guerrero added, "I think the President was trying to keep us from finding out, so we all wouldn't freak out."

External links

• Official site