With a unanimous vote during a regular session on Tuesday evening, March 19, Richmond County’s Board of Education approved the 2024-25 phase of a proposed 5-10 year Facilities Master Plan, which will cause school closures and consolidations.
After holding six public input meetings, board members all voted “yes” to approve Superintendent Kenneth Bradshaw’s recommendation of moving forward with the first year of the Master Facility Plan.
“I understand that this item has raised a lot of discussion in the community. There’s actually been very good discussion that’s given us with a road map on how we’re going to move forward,” Bradshaw said during the meeting.
According to Bradshaw, the plan will start being implemented in Fall 2024 in an effort to provide Richmond County students with an “equitable education” and “globally competitive” schooling.
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“The goal was to be extremely transparent, so as opposed to having the two public hearings that are required, I extended it to six public hearings so we can get all the information possible from our citizens,” he said. “We know that this is a very difficult decision … but the goal is not to induce pain on anyone, but make a better system for this community.”
Changes outlined within the plan will include closing Spirit Creek Middle and A. Brian Merry Elementary School, while consolidating the student populations of Langford and Tutt Middle School until a new Langford can be rebuilt.
Richmond Hill K-8 will be converted to an elementary school, with the current site being converted into a middle school, and Belair K-8 will be transformed into an elementary school while middle schoolers would be moved into a new facility.
In the county’s past efforts of providing small schools with “robust programs” at high operating costs, Bradshaw said his staff has noticed a system trend of low achievement, minus the occasional “pockets of success.”
Bradshaw said he believes implementing a drastic change will allow for schools to provide more opportunities for all students – magnet and traditional.
“I can assure you, there is no hidden agenda. We simply want to make our school system better,” said Bradshaw. “… it’s incumbent upon us to make great decisions, not just good decisions, on how we move forward for the next 10 years.”
For those concerned about the changes to historic and specialized schools, Bradshaw said magnet and legacy facilities will continue to be a priority to the Board, however traditional schools needed to also be considered as many students receive their foundational education from them.
“Traditional schools are the backbone of the school system. There are more traditional schools than any other schools that need our support,” he said. “… we will continue to share the relevant data and will continue to make the changes needed to accelerate the school system in the right direction.”
To increase program offerings and maximize resources, Bradshaw said consolidating schools will allow for the county to receive additional state funding, which will provide schools with more physical education, world language, music, art and dance classes.
“As we move forward with our Facilities Master Plan, we will continue to include our stakeholders in the process; however, please keep in mind that our primary objective is to improve student achievement for all Richmond County students,” he said.
From the many public comments and suggestions collected and recorded during the public meetings, Bradshaw said many decisions will be influenced and informed by community input.
“We value the input from the community – all of our stakeholders that give us valuable feedback – and we’ve taken all that into consideration as we make our final recommendations [to the Board of Education],” he said. “The goal is to always hear from our constituents.”
In addressing parental concern for student safety as populations adjust to each other in the near future, Bradshaw said the county will consider taking additional precautions to ensure a smooth transition.
“Safety is our number one priority, so anytime you consolidate you take all of those things into consideration when you combine different neighborhoods and schools,” he said. “We’re going to continue being proactive to provide a quality learning experience for all of our students.”
By listening to student advisory groups’ recommendations and possibly positioning more visible student resource officers, Bradshaw said his team will implement several measures to encourage the development of safe school relationships.
Bradshaw also said next steps taken by the School System will involve clear communication with the community in informing them of the newly approved plan for the following school year in the fall.
“We still need to gather more information and just bring the community in to make sure that we’re all looking through the same lens in terms of the direction we’re going,” he said.
However, some system normals will remain intact, as Bradshaw recommended the county keep the traditional school calendar for 2025-26, instead of adopting the proposed year round, “modified” calendar. If approved, schedule changes which would have decreased the summer break from 10 weeks to 7.5 and extended the fall break.
“We allowed our community to provide input, and they shared that right now the traditional schedule is the option of choice,” Bradshaw said. “So, we’ll go back and continue to gather information, but our goal is to always be innovative in providing ideas that we can improve the academic performance of our students and maybe even the morale of our teachers.”
Eventually, Bradshaw said the modified calendar will be reintroduced to the community in hopes of one day approving it for future school years.
For more information about the proposed and partly approved Facilities Master Plan, visit: https://www.rcboe.org/Page/87344
The Richmond County Board of Education will meet again on April 23, 2024, immediately following a 4 p.m. committee meeting at 864 Broad St. in downtown Augusta.
