Parents: Why doesn't Fort Bragg have a high school on post?

Rachael Riley, The Fayetteville Observer
·3 min read
The Departmnt of Defense Education Activity serves students through eighth grade at Fort Bragg, but there is no high school on post.
The Departmnt of Defense Education Activity serves students through eighth grade at Fort Bragg, but there is no high school on post.

FORT BRAGG — Fort Bragg not having a high school on post is a frequent topic officials say they hear.

The issue was discussed during a Feb. 15 meeting.

Fort Bragg has nine pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade schools on post for the 3,500 to 4,000 students of active-duty military parents who live on post.  The schools are overseen by the Department of Defense Education Activity.

“A high school on Fort Bragg is not planned at this current moment,” Fort Bragg Superintendent Kathryn Downs, said during the Feb. 15 meeting.

Downs said the question “comes up a couple of times a year,” but there currently are no military construction funds for a high school.

This year’s defense budget instead allocates $7.5 million for an addition to Albritton Middle School on Fort Bragg.

Col. John Wilcox, Fort Bragg’s garrison commander, reiterated that there are no plans for a high school on post.

“We are definitely looking into that,” Wilcox said during the meeting. “We have great partnerships with Cumberland County (and) the local county areas to see if that’s something that we could feasibly do.”

More:Fayetteville, Cumberland County officials discuss education, military issues

Who serves Fort Bragg’s high school-aged students?

According to a flier from the Directorate of Morale, Welfare and Recreation, “all high school students on post attend public schools off post.”

The "host high school" for students living on Fort Bragg’s main post is Cumberland County's E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville, and the host high school for Linden Oaks, a military housing community about nine miles north of Fort Bragg, is Harnett County's Overhills High School in Anderson Creek.

More:'Fort Bragg is our family': How Cumberland County Schools and E.E. Smith are serving students

Leaders have discussed the issue

Wilcox said although there aren’t plans for an on-post high school, there have been “some initial conversations to determine the feasibility of bringing a high school on post or the near areas.”

He referenced Cumberland County Schools previous discussions about building a new E.E. Smith High School.

“We’re going to continue to work with them (Cumberland County Schools) to determine what that looks like and where they might potentially build it, ensuring that our kids have access, “Wilcox said.

More:Cumberland County Schools fails to get $50 million grant for new E.E. Smith High School

Choice Program

High school students living in Fort Bragg’s main post can apply for Cumberland County's Choice Program, according to Department of Defense-sanctioned information site Military OneSource.  Choice Programs are specialized courses at select schools in the district based on individual student interests and goals.

The deadline to apply for the program was Jan. 31, said Gerhard Guevarra, a Fort Bragg school liaison officer.

During the past couple of years, Cumberland County Schools reopened the applications process during the summer if there were any available openings, Guevarra said at the meeting.

He said the Choice Program is not always available to all high school students at all grade levels.

For example, he said, the School of Arts at Seventy-First High School is open to all grade levels, but the Global Studies program at Terry Sanford High School is only open to ninth and tenth-graders, and early college high schools are only open to certain grades.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Parents ask if Fort Bragg can get a high school