By Miles Layton

GATESVILLE — Members of the Gates County Board of Commissioners and the Gates County Board of Education met for a special joint meetingWednesday night to discuss the possible consolidation of the county’s elementary schools, emphasizing financial pressures, long-term planning, and the emotional impact on the community.

More commission news from Wednesday’s meeting will appear in a future article.  

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For now, the meeting’s discussion centered on proposals to reduce the number of elementary schools from three to two, with some leaders also expressing a long-term goal of eventually moving toward a single elementary, middle, and high school campus.

Board of Education Chairman Leslie Byrum opened the discussion by outlining the work already completed in gathering public input.

“Most of y’all attended the three individual school sessions where the public was invited,” Byrum said. “Teachers, principals, everybody were invited. The Board of Education has presented the consolidated studies with additional information from the superintendent and his administrative team.”

Byrum said the board had held informational meetings in each school community to present available data and hear public concerns.

“We have held informational meetings at all three schools, communities, to share everything we know, to listen to the school principal, the teachers, and to hear the thoughts and feelings of the community members,” he said.

He explained that additional data is still being collected and will be presented at a future meeting.

“A report will be provided to the Board of Education to include the summary of the remarks made at the informational sessions, survey data that was done, and the cost for maintenance of the facilities and what would occur in the consolidation,” Byrum said.

Byrum said the board voted in January not to make a final decision until after the March 3 election.

“We would not decide on which school would close until after the March 3rd voting district, because we want to include the new board member (representing Eure) within that and give them an opportunity,” he said.

Byrum said the information would be shared in advance so new members could review it and ask questions. He said the board plans to hold a work session in the coming weeks.

Byrum then shared his personal view on the issue.

“I feel like we do need to consolidate the two elementary schools,” Byrum said. “With future growth in the county, I feel like we as a board need to come up with long-term goals, where we would maybe consolidate to one elementary school, one middle school and one high school.”

Byrum said current enrollment numbers support consolidation.

“At the elementary level, we only have 611 students, which represents our ADM (Average Daily Membership) for the three elementary schools,” he said. “The three schools can accommodate the excess if one of them is closed.”

Byrum also noted that consolidation would likely lead to staff reductions.

“There will be significant RIF (Reduction In Force) done and the RIF will take place from K through 12,” Byrum said.

Board of Education member Terri Riddick said the consolidation process involves both financial realities and emotional challenges.

“It’s a heavy lift in consolidating schools,” Riddick said. “It’s a hard issue. It’s hard to separate the finance piece from the heart issues and we take all of that very seriously.”

Riddick said financial concerns ultimately drive the discussion.

“When it’s all said and done, we’ve got to think about what is best for all of our students,” she said. “And that boils down to finances.”

Riddick said she views reducing to two schools as a first step toward a long-term goal.

“If we get down to two, that’s step one,” she said. “I would like to see us work together to go towards getting that one school.”

She said the county cannot afford a new consolidated campus on its own.

“The county can’t just go build a $45 million school,” she said.

Riddick said collaboration between the two boards is essential to pursue state or outside funding.

“This is the first step we’ve got to take,” she said. “Even if we were to do it today, it’d be five or six years before we could have one.”

Riddick also emphasized that consolidation requires upfront investments.

“There’s upfront cost,” he said. “There are some things that have got to be fixed and updated.”

She said capital improvements would be needed at whichever schools remain open.

“These are capital things,” she said. “Fix an air condition or adding to this or building on that.”

Riddick said closed buildings would be repurposed.

“We’re gonna repurpose them,” she said. “We’re gonna use them for something.”

She said leaders want to avoid leaving abandoned facilities.

“We don’t want another Sunbury school,” she said, referring to the tragic school building – ruins – we all know about that stands. Chowan County has one of those decaying school buildings, too, that’s with eyesight on NC 32.   

On that note, Commissioner Dave Forsythe asked, “Will we be privy to the assumptions so you retool or prep schools for the consolidation, whatever? I’ve done this before when you got an empty building, and well, it depends on what you’re going to do with that. Will we be privy to what the assumptions are, because if, for instance, you’re going to abandon one of the elementary schools? If the assumption is that we have to rebuild it and prep it to be a college campus or something, I think that’s a non-starter, that’s not a real accurate what we should be trying to plan for paying for it. So, the assumptions that go into what the expected costs are with the retooling effort, it’s kind of important for us to know when we get ready to talk about those costs, whatever costs they could come up with it.”

Forsythe continued, “We spoke with the COA president this week, and that subject come up again and the cost of converting a building to a college campus is extraordinary. You know, he’s, he stressed again that, you know, it’s more than half a million dollars in operating cost a year to do something like that. So, that’s not really a viable option. So, I think we’re going to have to think about that.”

Riddick responded, “Our charge right now is step one, is to get the two schools, and we take care of that. And we have to plan for the other building, but we’ve got to get the school thing because there’s gonna be hiccups and bumps. We’ve got to concentrate on that first.”

Riddick called for long-range planning.

“What does it look like in three, five and 10 years?” she said. “I think consolidation is big, but I think it’s needed.”

She said the county must move from reacting to problems to planning ahead.

“I want us to be in a proactive mood instead of a reactive mode,” she said.

Commission Chairwoman Emily Truman echoed the need for collaboration.

“It’s a long road still,” Truman said. “We also look forward to working together with y’all.”

Forsythe questioned whether delaying a decision until after March was necessary, given that a new Board of Education member will be sworn in after the March 3 primary election. His point was that a new member may not necessarily be inclined to make such a big decision right out of the gate.    

Riddick responded that the board still lacks key information, so any decision on which school to close will have to wait until March. 

“We don’t have all of the information,” she said. “We haven’t gotten all of that.”

She cited missing financial data, maintenance estimates, and survey results.

Board member Sallie Ryan said the board is still waiting for facility assessments.

“Mr. Green has gone to the architects,” Ryan said. “He is supposed to have it by February the 9th.”

She said estimates are complete for two schools but not for all three.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Ryan said when asked if consolidation could occur by next school year.

Riddick also said adding a fifth member would reduce the risk of a tie vote.

“With a four-person board… you don’t end up with a two-two vote,” she said.

Byrum said the decision was intended to ensure fair representation.

“So many people reached out to us that the new district was not being represented,” Byrum said.

Board of Education member Ronnie Rountree also supported consolidation.

“Our population is declining,” Rountree said. “It wouldn’t be good fiduciary responsibility if we had three schools open and the numbers don’t add up.”

The boards also discussed the future use of any closed building. Forsythe cautioned against expensive conversions.

“The cost of converting a building to a college campus is extraordinary,” he said. “It’s more than a half a million dollars operating cost a year.”

Riddick said the boards must focus first on consolidation.

“Our charge right now is step one,” she said. “We’ve got to get the two schools.”

She said planning for unused buildings would follow.

“It doesn’t make sense to try to do it all at one time,” Riddick said.

Forsythe recalled previous closures.

“I remember thinking, ‘What are they gonna do here?’” he said. “It’s just the saddest of affairs.”

As the meeting concluded, officials acknowledged that further action depends on receiving additional data.

“Until we’ve got further information,” Riddick said.

“We’ll keep you posted,” another member added.

The boards are expected to revisit the consolidation proposal after reviewing updated financial, maintenance, and survey reports in February and March.

The boards also discussed the timeline for upcoming meetings. Officials said Feb. 9 would be used to set the date for the next major informational session.

Commission Vice Chairman Nathan Berryman gets the last word. 

“I do appreciate the board taking the time and effort, and the scrutiny, to go through and figure out what’s the best thing to do for the county overall. Yes, it is a hard issue because I know a lot of people who went to those schools and grew up through Gates County and went through that, and they don’t want to see their elementary school close. And, I understand that side of it. But at the same time, it is a different time for Gates County and financially, we have to do something so that way we can move on and we get the education for the children that are here today that they deserve.”