03/29/2024
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By: Erin Smith
Staff and concerned parents gathered on Thursday evening at East Arcadia School to hear about the future of their school. Those in attendance were asked to write their questions on index cards and they were collected during the meeting. East Arcadia School Interim Principal Wade Lowery read the questions aloud and they were answered by Bladen County Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor.

Principal Lowery welcomed everyone to the meeting and Dr. Taylor presented the information regarding the plans for East Arcadia School to the those gathered. “We certainly thank you for coming out and showing your interest in Bladen County Schools and for giving us an opportunity to share information about school facilities and plans that we have for moving forward in Bladen County.”

Dr. Taylor told the group the purpose of the forum is to share information with the public about the facilities needs, the age of the buildings and the costs. Dr. Taylor the Board of Education wants to receive the input of those gathered regarding the proposal and to meet the NC General Statute requirement. The NC General Statutes require any Board of Education to hold community information forums and receive input when they are considering consolidation.

Dr. Taylor gave the background of the issue. He said one of the things the Board of Education considered was a lease/purchase option in 2013. Dr. Taylor said the outcome was the Bladen County Board of Commissioners did not feel they could finance any new schools whether it was through a traditional bond issue or a lease-option. Dr. Taylor said Sandy Grove Middle School in Hoke County is an example of a school that was obtained through a lease/purchase option at “a very affordable price.”

The board then convened the 21st Century Committee to study the various issues related to facilities in Bladen County and that Committee made recommendations regarding what the school district needed. The 21st Century Committee recommended the county consider building new facilities in the year 2021 when the debt for the two high schools was retired. The problem with this approach is the longer you wait, the more it costs to construct new facilities, said Dr. Taylor.

Dr. Taylor said the county has also tried on several occasions to pass a quarter-cent sales tax. “We have talked about the quarter-cent sales tax when it was specifically for school use, school use in conjunction with other departments in the county and then other departments outside of school use. We just have not been successful in being able to pass that measure so we can use that to put towards debt service in the long run,” said Dr. Taylor.

There are also concerns about declining enrollment numbers. Dr. Taylor said in conversations with the Bladen County Board of Commissioners, due to declining enrollment, it was suggested the Board of Education review its facilities and look at consolidating schools. Dr. Taylor said the Board of Education was asked to look at reducing the districts “footprint” at the request of the Commissioners.

In 2015, the Board of Education presented a consolidation proposal and the board met a lot of resistance from the public. As a result of that meeting, Dr. Taylor said the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction was asked to perform a facilities study and make their own recommendations to the school district with regards to facilities needs. That report was presented to the Board of Education in Sumer 2016.

Dr. Taylor said one important lesson learned by the Board of Education is there is a fear of towns losing their schools. “One of things we have heard repeatedly is the effect on Tar Heel, Bladenboro and even Clarkton when they lost their high schools,” said Dr. Taylor.

He said consolidation is about finding a solution for aging buildings, rising costs and declining enrollment. Those three items are what has led the Board of Education to make the decision to consolidate. The 13 buildings which make up the school district are aging and the newest facilities in the district are the two high schools which are about 16 years old. The two high schools will require new roofs in the next three years at a cost of $400,000 each along with maintenance on aging buildings throughout the county.

“When buildings get old, you’ve got to make a decision,” said Dr. Taylor. He noted the majority of the buildings in the county were constructed during the 1950s.

Dr. Taylor also addressed rising costs for construction. He said currently it costs between $150 to $200 per square foot to construct a new building. When East Bladen and West Bladen were constructed, they cost about $36 million to build. Today, constructing a new building to house 600 K-8 students is projected to cost $27 million.

He said the total K-12 enrollment in the county is currently 4,500 students. In 2004- 2005, the enrollment was about 5,700. He said the district has lost about 1,200 students for many different reasons. The state gives the school district funding for teacher salaries based on the average daily enrollment figures. Dr. Taylor emphasized it is not based on each individual school but rather on the enrollment in the district as a whole.

The proposed consolidation calls for East Arcadia School to become a K-4 school. “One of the things we have struggled with is having to maintain small schools and particularly if you have a K-8 school with such a small enrollment it underscores the dilemma that we have of being able to provide everything that school needs in order to educate the children,” said Dr. Taylor.

He pointed out the enrollment figures for East Arcadia School generates 6 teachers. Dr. Taylor reminded the audience the school is a K-8 school but the enrollment figures when they are presented to the state will only generate enough funding for 6 teachers which means additional resources have to be provided. Also, the middle school students at East Arcadia find it difficult to participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports due to their small numbers.

The proposed consolidation plan calls for Booker T. Washington School in Clarkton to be closed and those students dispersed. The students in the Council/Rosindale area would be assigned to East Arcadia School as a part of K-4 program. The middle school students currently attending East Arcadia School would be sent to either Clarkton School of Discovery or Elizabethtown Middle School depending on where they reside. This would bring the enrollment at East Arcadia School to 120 students.

Dr. Taylor said transportation issues were taken into consideration when creating this plan. He said district staff felt it was a better compromise to allow middle school students to make the transition and it also gives them the opportunity to take part in extra-curricular activities.

Director of Transportation Kent Allen said all of the students residing on the south side of the Cape Fear River will attend Clarkton. Allen said students on north side of the Cape Fear River with the dividing line being students who live on NC 53 from Bivens Bridge on up will attend CSD and students that reside north of that area will attend Elizabethtown Middle School. The travel time for students who will be attending CSD will be extended by about 45 minutes.

Dr. Taylor said the middle school teachers currently at East Arcadia will have positions. He said there will be vacancies available.

Elizabethtown Primary School would become a K-4 school as well. Students from Booker T. Washington would be combined with students at ETP bringing the projected enrollment number to 514 and reducing the number of teachers needed by 3.

Bladen Lakes Primary School would become K-4 and students from ETP who reside on the North side of the Cape Fear River would be combined with students at BLP to bring the enrollment numbers to 355 and a need for three more teachers.

The Clarkton School of Discovery would remain open and consist of grades 5-8. Some students from East Arcadia School would be combined with CSD students to bring the projected enrollment number to 354 and the remaining 5-8 students at East Arcadia School would move to Elizabethtown Middle School bringing their projected enrollment to 450.

The plan also calls for the district to construct a new K-8 school at Tar Heel. Dr. Taylor said this is needed in the county.

The projected savings to the district would be about $325,000 for personnel and $100,000 for utilities.

The estimated costs of the facilities needed would be about $38 million. That includes a new k-8 school in Tar Heel at a cost of $27 million; multipurpose buildings at Bladenboro, Elizabethtown, and Bladen Lakes Primary at a cost of $3 million; athletic field houses at East Bladen and West Bladen High Schools at a cost of $2.5 million; an addition to Bladen Lakes School at a cost of $500,000; and additional upgrades of $5 million which include a cafeteria expansion at Elizabethtown Primary School, a multipurpose building at East Arcadia School and other upgrades.

During the question and answer session, Board of Education member Gary Rhoda asked Dr. Taylor if he had other plans to present to the board. He expressed his displeasure with the current proposal.

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