Granville school board OKs Hawley-into-Creedmoor campus swap
Jan. 25—OXFORD — Granville County school board members have voted to go ahead with a plan to relocate the programs of G.C. Hawley Middle School to what is now Creedmoor Elementary School and reassign Creedmoor's students to other schools.
The vote to approve the "closure" of Creedmoor — something of a misnomer, but one that fits a procedural pigeonhole created by state law — was 6-1, with District 1 board member Ethel Anderson dissenting.
Anderson represents the northwest portion of the county, meaning all the members who represent the Creedmoor, Butner and Stem areas in the southern part of Granville County supported the decision.
Those in the majority agreed that Hawley's condition — it requires about $5.2 million in upgrades, with concern focusing heavily on indoor air quality — mandates the relocation of its students to another facility.
"There's always been that problem where some people throw money at things and some people don't," said District 4 member Leonard Peace. "Hawley is one of those things that fell through the cracks on a lot of occasions. That doesn't change the fact that today it's in bad shape and students need to be moved out of it. I'm not in a position to kick this can down the road any further."
The decision came not quite three months after Superintendent Alisa McLean and her aides urged the board to "revisit the topic of school reorganization" as part of its response to persistent staffing shortages in the teaching ranks.
It means that starting in the late summer, for the 2023-24 school year, the Granville County Public Schools will operate with seven elementary schools, rather than with the eight it has now.
There is no change in store to the number of middle schools, and for now it doesn't seem board members have much interest in merging high schools.
For system officials, the vote means they have to figure out a plan for reassigning Creedmoor's students to other schools in the southern part of the county, and flesh out a plan for upgrading the building for middle school students.
A report to the board suggested the reassignment plan could be as simple as dividing them between the Butner-Stem and Mount Energy elementary schools, or as complicated as redrawing all the elementary-level attendance zones in the southern part of the county.
The same report also urged the board to move the boundary of Butner-Stem Middle School a bit to the east to balance out attendance of that school and Hawley.
As for refitting the Creedmoor building, district officials have acknowledged that they're going to have to replace some bathroom fixtures and other fittings sized for elementary-age kids with ones suitable for older kids.
McLean's staff also noted that they also have to come up with "a transition plan for the reassignment of" Creedmoor's teachers and staff, a job board Chairwoman Glenda Williams of District 3 said merits "a lot of thought" for the benefit of employees and children alike.
"It's my understanding there is absolutely no reason for anyone ... to be out of a job because we have plenty of openings," William said, adding the system should work to "strategically place" Creedmoor's teachers and staff with their pupils.
The impending shuffle will be the system's first since 2019, when officials closed outright the former Joe Toler-Oak Hill Elementary School and Mary Potter Middle School in the northern portion of the county and reassigned their students to other schools.
A hearing earlier this month saw Creedmoor Elementary parents voice opposition to the move, as did predecessors in 2018 and 2019.
"I've seen schools open and have seen school closed," Peace said. "We've never had a school closed that the people in that school didn't feel like we were taking their baby away from them."
Contact Ray Gronberg at rgronberg@hendersondispatch.com or by phone at 252-436-2850.
