'Let this magnet school change lives': Bolton High to become prek-12 for academics, arts

Bolton High School will become a pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade academic and performing arts magnet school, transitioning students in as renovations are made to the historic Alexandria school.

Students in sixth- to 12th-grades will be at Bolton beginning with the 2024-25 academic year, while the younger students won't arrive until the 2025-26 year, assuming facilities are ready for them.

Rapides Parish School Board members approved by a 6-3 vote a substitute motion from member Steve Berry after listening to public comments for about an hour Thursday in a special meeting that dealt only with the Bolton issue.

Although Rapides Academy and Phoenix are not mentioned by name in Berry's motion, those are the schools to be folded into Bolton. The actual map for the new magnet school still must be assembled.

The vote ends what started as a plan to close Rapides Academy and Phoenix Magnet Elementary School, both on Lincoln Road in Alexandria, and move those programs into Bolton, turning it into a kindergarten through 12th-grade academic and performing arts magnet program.

Making it a program, instead of a school, would have meant Bolton would not have an athletic program.

The initial plan also called for closing Alma Redwine and Horseshoe Drive elementary schools. Bolton's attendance zone would have been changed, too.

News of the plan was a surprise, and a meeting on March 8 was contentious. An advisory panel was established to consider Bolton's future, and the plans to close Alma Redwine and Horseshoe Drive were off the table.

The panel presented its report to the board's education committee on Aug. 15, but it did not include any recommendations.

Bolton plan: After hours of contentious public comment, Rapides School Board holds off on closure plan

Panel presents report: Rapides School Board could take up Bolton revamp on Aug. 24

The meeting began with board members offering three substitute motions. Wilton Barrios' motion would have postponed the decision until January, giving Superintendent Jeff Powell time to confer with other schools.

Barrios' rationale was that changing Bolton to a magnet school would effect other schools in the district. He later withdrew the motion.

The substitute motion from Sandra Franklin, whose District I includes Bolton, called for Bolton to become an academic and performing arts magnet for sixth-12th grades. She later amended the language so the school would continue to have an athletics program.

That substitute motion failed by a 7-2 vote. Franklin and board Vice President Buddy McCall were the two yes votes.

Berry's motion was the clear favorite among those who spoke about the topic. Among the speakers were a number of panel members, like Brad Webb.

Webb called Berry's motion "a great plan to move forward." He did ask for Phoenix to be closer to Bolton during the transition so administrators could work together.

Bolton's principal, Dewayne Vines, implored board members to make a decision during the meeting. Bolton needs answers, and he said he was very concerned about the students who were falling in love with the campus and getting involved there.

"It really concerns me that I've got to tell some of them that you may not be allowed to come back to Bolton for next year, so they need answers," said Vines.

He said he also worried about his faculty and staff, calling this academic year "the most difficult hiring season because people are very concerned about coming to work at Bolton.

"Will they have a job at the end of this school year?"

Vines said he wasn't against the magnet idea, but said people shouldn't be left in limbo.

Tori Flynn was a member of the panel and has a daughter in the seventh-grade at Rapides Academy. She said the proposal got off to a rocky start, but she and others now see a combined magnet school could "become something extraordinary and provide a unique opportunity and experience for all academic-focused students in the district."

But she acknowledged parents of Rapides Academy students, while not opposed to change, still had concerns. Flynn told board members about a survey recently done, which found 63% of the parents said they'd send their children only if the current faculty, staff and administration also move to Bolton.

Ten percent said they wouldn't send their kids there "no matter what" if it opens in August 2024. Seventy-five percent "would feel better" about sending their children if the start date was in August 2025 and if all facilities were ready, she said.

But if they had to make a decision in February 2024 without guarantees that facilities would be ready, 81% said they would not send their students, said Flynn.

Safety was a concern for some speakers, especially for younger students. One man said he supports the creation of the magnet school, but he wanted assurances that his elementary-age daughter would be safe.

He said his wife believes the decision is rushed, and she doesn't have answers regarding security.

"We don't have doubts, but we just don't have answers," he said.

Another woman, a parent of a higher schooler, middle schooler and elementary student, said she has no worries about her children's safety.

"I always drop my kids off, trusting that teachers and administrators are going to keep them safe," she said. "And that's not going to change if I drop them off at Bolton Academy. I trust you guys. Y'all are going to keep my kids safe. I know that."

Stephen Maffett, a Peabody Magnet High School teacher and former Phoenix student, said he supported the 6th-12th configuration. He graduated from the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches and said he wanted to see a school like that in Rapides Parish.

"I enjoyed my experience at LSMSA, but it wasn't because I was at a residential high school," he said. "I enjoyed it because of the rigor, because of the extracurricular opportunities, because of the discussions, collaborations, conversations. They were like none other that I'd had at the time, before going to college."

He wondered if it was possible to accomplish that without moving Phoenix, which he called "a mainstay of our community for awhile."

That's why he wanted to see a sixth-12th configuration and said he hadn't heard anything about having the quality of the teachers match the quality of the students.

Bonnie White, entering her sixth year as Bolton's executive assistant principal, said she favored Berry's motion. It could reshape the educational landscape, as well as the community, she said.

She called it an opportunity not just for Bolton students, but for all students in the parish.

"Let this magnet school change lives," she said. "We can do this. This is possible. The children and families of Rapides Parish deserve it."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Bolton High to begin prek-12 magnet school transition in 2024-25