School system to relocate students
By Steve Herring
Published in News on May 19, 2016 1:46 PM
School Street Elementary School kindergarten through fifth-grade students would be relocated to Carver Heights and North Drive elementary schools under a facilities plan that also focuses on better utilization of existing classroom space.
The plan also recommends that the present Wayne Middle High Academy, an alternative school, be converted back to its original intent and become a middle school.
The plan approved Tuesday afternoon by the Wayne County Board of Education reflects the board's efforts to address concerns from Wayne County commissioners about making the maximum use of existing classroom space.
According to Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore's analysis of school facilities needs, additional pre-kindergarten rooms are needed in the county and central attendance area.
The plan would increase pre-kindergarten classrooms at School Street and realign North Drive as kindergarten through second-grade school and Carver Heights as a third- through fifth-grade school.
That would bring the fifth grade back from Dillard Middle School and better utilize classroom space and system resources, Dunsmore said in his facilities summary.
Carver Heights currently has nine vacant classrooms.
Moving the district testing center from North Drive to School Street would free up four classrooms and one resource room.
The main focus at North Drive would be early literacy and assuring the school system is meeting student needs to achieve grade-level reading scores as required by state and federal guidelines.
The support staff from the second floor of Wayne Middle High Academy (the future middle school) would shift to School Street.
School Street also would have the additional space needed for professional development training, Dunsmore said.
Converting Wayne Middle High Academy into a middle school would help alleviate overcrowding at Norwayne Middle School that is running very close to capacity, Dunsmore said.
"One of the things we have been discussing, and it was the request of commissioners, is the Wayne Academy, is repurposing that to its original intent as a middle school," he said. "I am not sure what we would call that. That is why I have Goldsboro Academy/Middle school."
Dunsmore said it was before his arrival, but the system had previously done a study about a new middle school in northern Wayne County.
"But if we repurpose that (Wayne Middle High Academy) building, we potentially have 600 seats there," he said. "Right now we are using the first floor for our alternative school. It (enrollment) fluctuates. I think the highest this year was about 170 students, and that is not using any of the rooms on the second floor."
The building is one of several that is in need of a roof, Dunsmore said.
If there are enough reserves in the upcoming budget the roof will be replaced, he said.
"Our hope is the next couple of years, working with the county on this budget if we can fix these roofs and big-ticket items on our list, that we can take care of them without having to go to commissioners," Dunsmore said. "So that building, we are probably looking a year or two away getting that up and running.
"The other piece of that it is not going to be a wholesale move. Our goal with the restart model (at Goldsboro High School), we were talking about earlier would carry into the middle school giving us a year or two to get the academics and the instructional piece where we want it. Then we would start bringing in six graders. The next year another grade six then we would have grade six and seven and the third year, six, seven and eight."
It would be a natural transition as students move from their elementary school into middle school, he said.