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Trustees could separate zones, consolidation into two separate
votes
tonight
By MARY EVA CASSADA
Special to The News & Record
Halifax County School Board is poised to vote tonight at 7 on the
proposed rezoning of every elementary school attendance district —
the
first major alignment in a generation — and the consolidation of
Halifax Elementary into sister school Sinai Elementary.
Vice Chairman Steve Anderson said there was talk among his
colleagues
of taking two votes: one for the rezoning and one for the
consolidation
of the schools. Should the former pass and the latter fail, then the
proposed new zones would be in effect, Halifax and Sinai would
continue
to operate, their sixth grade sent to the newly remodeled middle
school.
Should that happen, both schools would see reduced enrollment due to
rezoning, with only 339 children shared between them, making them
among
the smallest in the county.
The dual vote "may not happen," Anderson said, but had been
suggested.
The vote will come an hour and a half after a planned Courthouse
rally
by supporters of Halifax Elementary, who want the school kept open
as a
traditional elementary, not as a Law and Leadership satellite
facility
of the high school. Law and Leadership classes are now housed at the
popular STEM Center, also in Halifax.
Tonight's vote, or votes, are destined to be split decisions, with
Chairman Mac McDowell (who does cast a vote despite his title),
Trustee
Arthur Reynolds and Anderson in favor of the consolidation and
rezoning
plan, and Trustees Joe Bailey and Douglas Fisher opposed. The three
others remained undecided at press time.
Trustee Sandra Rister, herself a longtime schoolteacher, said she
was
"still vacillating."
"I am still trying to decide what is best for the children," she
added.
Trustee Nancylee Bagwell said she had "gone back and forth over
this"
despite considering herself a decisive person. "There are so many
complex issues this time out.
"It's been really, really difficult," she stressed.
Trustee Kelly Hill, who was out of town last week, was meeting
Wednesday with school officials to get more data; then she was going
to
walk again through both Halifax and Sinai schools.
"I 'm just trying to make a good decision," she said, asking for
prayers for the board and the children.
Some school board members said they had been deluged with calls and
e-mails; others said they had only a smattering.
The short but arduous road to tonight's meeting has been fraught
with
opposition and complications: Since February 15 when the proposal
was
unveiled, two alternative plans have been suggested and rejected.
Wednesday, Halifax supporters still held out hope that the vote
might
be delayed a year, as requested officially by Halifax Town Council.
The overall rezoning is necessitated by the construction of two new
elementaries, South Boston and Cluster Springs, set to open in
August.
Without rezoning to divert more pupils its way, the new South Boston
(replacing Washington-Coleman and C.H. Friend) would open at only
about
66 percent enrollment capacity.