Stephens BOE Votes to Close Elementary School, Restructure

By Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa

The Stephens County School Board has voted to close an elementary school and restructure the other three.

Tuesday evening, the board voted to close Eastanollee Elementary School on SR17 just outside town.  The vote was unanimous.

School Board Chair Tony Crunkleton said afterwards it was an incredibly difficult decision for board members.

“It has been hard on all of us,” said Crunkleton. “There is no doubt about that. We hate we have the situation we are in, but we are to the point we have to do something to try not to borrow any more money.”

Eastanollee Elementary school will close at the end of this school term.

Next year, pre-k and kindergarten students will attend Big A Elementary School, 1st and 2nd graders will go to Liberty Elementary School, and 3rd and 4th graders will go to Toccoa Elementary School.

5th graders will attend Stephens County Middle School as part of a separate Fifth Grade Academy.

The board’s decision Tuesday comes at the recommendation of School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey as a way to save the school system some $1.9 million dollars in Fiscal 2016.

The budget reduction plan estimates about $200,000 in operational savings, with about $1.7 million in personnel and other savings next fiscal year.

All of these moves come as the school system works to get itself out of a massive budget shortfall discovered last year and a pattern of borrowing money from year to year.

Crunkleton says the goal of this plan is to move the system out of that pattern and towards long-term financial stability.

“Say within two or three years maybe, the projection is that it will get us to the point where we can operate without having to borrow money,” said Crunkleton. “That is our goal. We know it is going to be hard. It is going to be hard on families. It is going to be hard on teachers and everybody involved. But we have great employees and a great community. We will get through this.”

As for what will happen to the Eastanollee Elementary building, school board member Rod Moore asked if there were plans for its or estimates on what it will cost to keep it up when closed.

Dorsey said the plan has always assumed a reduced operation of the building, not a complete abandonment.

“We always intended to run at least modestly out there,” said Dorsey. “We have also contacted an evening institution that appears to be very interested in going out there should the board approved this plan.”

Dorsey said that would have the building partially occupied year-round with that institution covering part of any operational costs.

The budget reduction plan estimates about $200,000 in operational savings, with about $1.7 million in personnel and other savings.

Under the current form of the budget reduction plan, a reduction in force of about 23.5 employees, not including positions being absorbed through retirement or resignation, is planned.

It was the loss of one of those positions that drew attention of two speakers at the start of Tuesday’s meeting.

Under the plan, the Latin teaching position at Stephens County High School would be eliminated, with Latin instead being offered through a dual enrollment program with Toccoa Falls College starting next year.

Stephens County High School juniors Natalie Simmons and Casey Ramsey both questioned that proposal Tuesday.

Both take Latin currently at the high school and say that while dual enrollment is a better option then eliminating it altogether, it is not the best option.

Simmons said that she is concerned about potentially switching instructors halfway through her Latin studies.

“It would be good for new students that are going to be taking Latin I and II, but as for me, I will begin taking Latin III and IV next year and it will be very complicated to transfer to a new teacher because there is no telling how they teach,” said Simmons.

Ramsey agreed that continuity is a concern, saying that the high school’s Latin teacher has a very specific curriculum that he has developed that works specifically for him.

“That makes things just more inconvenient and if somebody teaches not organized, if they do not care about learning and just care more about memorization, which honestly is what some teachers do, I am just worried about the future of the Latin program,” said Ramsey.

Tuesday’s vote by the Board of Education brings a month-long process to a close that has seen many question and criticize the closing of Eastanollee Elementary and the re-structuring of lower grades.

Crunkleton said he hopes that the county can now begin moving forward.

“It is a time for healing,” said Crunkleton. “I hope we can all come together now that the decision has been made and come together for the betterment of our children and our community.”

The re-structuring and school closing takes effect with the start of next school year.

Dorsey said school system staff are continuing to work on details like school start times and bus routes and other things that will be affected by the changes approved by the school board.