Post demerger, school systems see shift in hiring needs

In about a month, staff and faculty of Edgecombe County Public Schools will be returning to the classroom to welcome students for the start of the 2024-25 school year. The district will look quite different in the upcoming school year — a result of the demerger that is bringing students who live on the Edgecombe County side of Rocky Mount into the school system.

Prior to the demerger, all Rocky Mount public school students were served by the Nash County Public Schools system. Along with the demerger moving students from one district to the other, three elementary schools, a middle school and an office building is also transferring over to Edgecombe County Public Schools.

Nash County Public Schools is expecting to lose approximately 1,200 students. All of that has meant a staff and teacher shake-up as well.

For the faculty and staff at the school facilities in Rocky Mount that have transferred over, a spokeswoman said most of those employees were hired by Edgecombe County Public Schools.

Susan Hoke, director of community relations with Edgecombe County Public Schools, said 94 employees, including 50 certified teacher and administrator employees have been hired by the school district to accommodate the influx of students transferring into the school system post-demerger.

Hoke said that the school district’s human resources department will be hiring more staff and teachers in the coming weeks.

Hoke said the demerger will influence school district lines in Edgecombe County but not immediately.

The school district will need to redraw its district lines before the next election of Edgecombe County Board of Education members, Hoke said. With no school board seats up for grabs in Edgecombe County this election, that means the district lines will need to be redrawn for the May 2026 elections.

As with students transferring due to the demerger, voters who live on the Edgecombe County side of Rocky Mount will be casting ballots in those May elections.

Because of the influx of new voters to those school districts, Hoke said school officials are working on new district maps.

In an April joint meeting of school board members and county commissioners, Dr. Andy Bryan, the superintendent of Edgecombe County Public Schools, told elected officials that the school system will grow from a current 5,145 students to an estimated 6,376 students because of the demerger.

The four campuses that are no longer part of Nash County Public Schools are D.S. Johnson Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Baskerville Elementary and Parker Middle School.

Bryan said in April that principals had been hired at each campus.