Bibb superintendent recommends closing one elementary school, building another
Bibb County could see the closure of one public school and opening of a brand new one during the next five years. At a Board of Education meeting Thursday night, Superintendent Curtis Jones recommended that Brookdale Elementary shut its doors and a brand new Riley Elementary be built.
He presented two other options — closing Riley Elementary or L.H. Williams Elementary — but he is backing the option that includes the closure of Brookdale.
Public hearings are scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 4 at Brookdale and 5 p.m. Jan. 8 at Central High School. Board members will vote to approve one of the three facility plan options at the Jan. 18 board meeting.
Since March, Bibb County has been working on its five-year facilities plan,which is required by the Georgia Department of Education. The organization of the county's schools — including planned closings, consolidations and construction — is a part of that process.
A school closure would address underutilized facilities, high operation costs and declining student enrollment. It's estimated that the district will lose 500 students and have an excess of 91 classrooms in its elementary schools by the year 2022, according to a report from the district. Brookdale is using only 55 percent of its classroom space; L.H. Williams, 68 percent; and Riley, 63 percent.
Jones took feedback from board members and community members into account when forming his recommendation for Thursday.
If Brookdale were to close, the Brookdale and Riley school zones would be combined and L.H. Williams’ zone would stay mostly the same, Jones said. The new Riley Elementary would be built on the same site where the school currently is located. Riley is an open campus where students have to walk outside to get to some areas of the school, and a new school would improve safety and attract students that live in that zone.
The district already has $15 million allocated for a new elementary in its education special purpose local option sales tax plan, so a new school would be no additional cost to taxpayers, said Jason Daniel, executive director of Capital Programs for the district.
“I think building a new Riley would certainly stabilize that neighborhood there. I think you’ll have the attendance up at Riley,” board member Lester Miller said. “From a financial standpoint, I see a cost savings with your plan. … I’m in favor of it. We certainly want to see if anybody brings anything new to the table in January.”
Not everyone is pleased with the recommendation, but the board hasn't voted yet and district staff still have a lot of listening to do, Chief of Staff Keith Simmons said.
If the district confirms next year that there will be an excess of classrooms, the new Riley will be designed during the 2019-2020 school year, according to Jones' report. Riley students will be temporarily located to Brookdale in 2020-21 while the new school is built. Brookdale would close and the new Riley building would open for the 2021-22 school year.
If Dream Academy charter school opens in fall 2018, Jones thinks the Bibb district could see an almost immediate loss of enrollment. However, if that doesn’t happen, board members would have the option to wait to implement whichever plan they choose or alter the plan, Jones said.
“I appreciate the superintendent really seriously listening,” board member Thelma Dillard said. “He considered the statements from the (public) hearing, individual concerns. He listened to board members. He showed his care by demonstrating item for item the concerns that were addressed.”
Also during the meeting, the Board of Education approved:
* An amendment to Bibb County’s Strategic Waiver School System contract with the state Board of Education. The update will allow the district more local control on instructional makeup days in the event of inclement weather, Simmons said.
* Leadership changes at Springdale and Porter elementary schools. Springdale Principal Constance Massey-Winds has resigned for personal reasons, and Porter Principal Cami Hamlin will step into her position, Jones said. Chris Kirby, Porter assistant principal, will be interim principal at Porter. Betty Anderson, now a district coach, will be assistant principal at Porter.
* The purchase of 23 service vehicles and eight school buses at a cost of about $1.66 million.
* A contract for $194,814.00 to Hamlin Air Conditioning for air conditioning installation in the gyms at Bruce, Burdell-Hunt and Taylor elementary schools.
* The selling of the property at 2840 Hollis Road, the former Neel Academy, to The Peca Group LLC for $75,000.
* Three purchase orders using education special purpose local option sales tax dollars for the Academy for Classical Education: $13,266 for a stage; $11,539 for two scoreboard for the gymnasium; and $12,470 for two Xerox machines.
This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bibb superintendent recommends closing one elementary school, building another."