School Board Weighs Options About East Arcadia’s Future

ELIZABETHTOWN – The Bladen County School Board met for their monthly meeting on Monday for some important updates, including school restructuring and realignment. Superintendent Dr. Jason Atkinson presented the board with data collected on the area’s schools over the past month outlining problems and solutions before they stamp a final decision in any type of realignment if deemed necessary.

Dr. Atkinson began his presentation stating the difficulties rural students face when it comes to receiving funding from the state as most of the government funding goes to the major metropolitan areas before being trickled down to the smaller rural communities. Government relief funds in the form of grants are only available for specific needs and the board would have to go through a process in order to use funds elsewhere. The data collected over the past month is there to help gauge areas of improvement and everything discussed by the board during the meeting is not their final decision.

Bladen County schools have not been immune to the challenge of working with what the state gives them and this isn’t the first time the board has been faced with tough decisions in terms of school closures or reconsolidating.

Bladenboro High was closed in the late 90’s, which led to the inception of both East and West Bladen High Schools being constructed to consolidate students in the area. Booker T. Washington Elementary was closed in 2018, which created a larger enrollment at Bladenboro Primary, Elizabethtown Primary and Clarkton Middle.

The board would move out East Arcadia Primary’s 5th-8th grade classes to Clarkton and Elizabethtown middle in the 2018/19 school year in an effort to consolidate. Fast forward to six years later and East Arcadia Primary is under the microscope of the school board once more.

East Arcadia sits on the easternmost edge of the county line with Columbus County and the school has the smallest enrollment in the county at 64 students. East Arcadia and Booker T. Washington has a rich history amongst the people in their respective communities as they were the only two schools black people could attend during segregation.

Lilian Graham, a former student of East Arcadia and local resident, reminded the board of the school’s importance to the community during the citizen participation portion of the meeting. She also expressed how the 20-25 mile distance between East Arcadia and Clarkton is unfair for current students in the area. “I come on the behalf of East Arcadia,” said Graham. “I’m thinking about the little children that will get up at 5 o’clock in the morning to go to Clarkton.”

She believes the 2-3 hour bus route puts the community children of East Arcadia at a disadvantage and they should be kept within their own community.”I’m not here to tell you[the board] what’s best for the children of Bladen County but I’m here to tell you that there is schools 5 to 10 miles from East Arcadia versus 20 to 25 miles,” said Graham. “We ask you to consider the fact that if we’re not good enough for you all to support us where we live, then allow the county next door to accept us if they will.”

The board assured Graham that they’ve yet to decide the fate of East Arcadia and planned to weigh their options before making a final decision. Dr. Atkinson explained to the board that in order for the state to fund a school’s principal they must have 100 students or more. East Arcadia hasn’t held that number of students in some time and they have averaged 64.8 students over the last six years.

State funding excludes preK students in the count, which leaves East Arcadia short of the required 100 students necessary for government assistance. East Arcadia has been funded locally and enrollment steadily decreases as many kids in the area have been attending neighboring schools. The low enrollment and lack of resources from the state level has affected the school negatively in recent years as the school was marked as low-performing by the state in 2022.

The downward trajectory of the schools performance started to take a dip around the 2018/19 school year according to past data collected and the pandemic year was not counted in their performance grade from the state due to the pandemic. PreK scores are excluded by the state so their performance grade is stemming from 1st-4th grade performance in the classroom. The lack of resources at East Arcadia Primary has pushed potential students in the area to go elsewhere to seek the special services needed to accommodate their education.

Teachers have been dealt with classrooms being combined in order to keep pace with their students’ needs and dwindling class sizes. Some students have resorted to attending schools across the border in Columbus County due to proximity. The school’s aging infrastructure has also been cited as a concern within the data and renovations would have an estimated cost of upwards to $1 million dollars.

The backside of the building hasn’t been in use due to safety concerns and there’s a need for a new HVAC system in the building. Access to emergency services has also been cited as a concern in the data and the school has lacked proper parking leaving some staff members to park in the grass. The data highlighted several issues but Dr. Atkinson also presented the board with solutions that can either keep the doors open at East Arcadia or move the children of the community elsewhere.

Redrawing school zones has been stated as an option in order to bring students back to East Arcadia or returning kids from Clarkton. An in-district agreement with Columbus County Schools has been proposed in an effort to keep children closer to the East Arcadia area and cut down travel. Dr. Atkinson explained that an inner-district agreement would allow students to attend other schools outside the county in case of a closure but it would need to be agreed upon with a collaborating county.

Columbus County School Board has also been open to constructing a brand new school that is 8 miles from East Arcadia Primary in collaboration with Bladen County schools. This combined effort would need to be discussed in terms of transportation cost and who pays for what. Another solution proposed is consolidating further into Clarkton and creating a k-8 school on the existing campus.

Clarkton has several classrooms that can accommodate the influx of students if the board decides this to be the necessary step. The board could possibly get this plan into motion by the start of the new school year in August 2024. The discussion will continue on the fate of East Arcadia but a public hearing is required if the board were to decide to close the school.

Dr. Atkinson also cited positive developments in 5th grade development at Bladenboro Primary after switching the grade from the middle school level back to the elementary level. The results were so positive from Bladenboro Primary that the board will consider moving 5th grade back to the elementary level for all schools in the county. If this plan goes into motion then this could decrease enrollment in the county’s middle schools as space has been a concern for a longtime.

A possible multipurpose classroom building for both Bladenboro Primary and Middle could be the next big construction project. The school board will continue their discussions on potential closures, realignment and consolidation. DPI is currently doing the final approval for the fieldhouse and concession stands on the Tar Heel School Project.

The completion date remains on target and the ribbon cutting ceremony will be slated for June once school is out of session. Also, the new Tar Heel School sign was created from the bricks of the old demolished building. East Bladen High School counselor Donell Goins addressed the board for the third straight month during the citizen participation portion of the meet and he advocated for mental health services for Bladen County schools.

He cited an incident involving a teacher and student in March as a reason why the board should reconsider their decision on mental health services in school. Demetress Johnson, a former administrator and resident of Bladen County, also advocated for mental health services inside of schools for the benefit of the children battling their silent demons.

Johnson shared personal stories of her daughters battles with depression and her attempting suicide during school hours, as well as shared stories her own bouts with depression. She cited therapy as a source of healing in her own personal battles and during her time as an administrator in the county she realized many children aren’t able to afford such luxuries.

Johnson is a firm believer that therapy will help the children of Bladen County and she states that she’ll remain an advocate for mental health services in schools until a drafted policy becomes fruition.