After approximately two hours of debate Monday night, the Craven County Board of Education failed to reach a final decision on a proposal to repurpose J.T. Barber Elementary as a pre-K center.
The board voted instead to hold a public input meeting at the school on Wednesday, May 3 at 6 pm. to hear from residents who would be impacted by the proposed change. The board agreed to make a decision on the plan at the end of the meeting following public input.
The meeting is open to all staff, students, families and community members.
The issue was first brought before the board by Superintendent Wendy Miller during their April 18 meeting. She said the move was necessary to help accommodate the more than 200 students on the waiting list for pre-K services, which the school system currently does not have the space to accommodate.
Under the plan, J.T. Barber Elementary’s grade K-5 students would be reassigned to other Craven County elementary schools and the new pre-K facility would be renamed the J.T. Barber Early Literacy Center.
Miller asked the board to consider three options:
-Keep things the same and J.T. Barber remains a K-5 school.
-Begin the process of repurposing the school as a pre-K center for the 2023-24 school year.
-Begin the process of repurposing for the 2024-25 school year.
At the school board’s special called meeting on April 24, staff provided more details about the proposed plan.
While the changes presented to the board last week called for J.T. Barber to become a pre-K through kindergarten school, the new plan calls for a pre-K facility only.
And while students were originally to be reassigned to Trent Park and Oaks Road elementary schools, the plan may have to be revised due to those schools already exceeding their student capacity, said Michelle Lee, assistant superintendent for Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement.
Lee said Bridgeton Elementary and Brinson Memorial Elementary may be better options for the student reassignments.
According to information presented Monday night, the next phase of the plan would involve preparing classrooms at J.T. Barber this summer for incoming pre-K students. The work would involve installation of hot water lines, the removal of exterior trees, and the installation of cabinets, countertops and sinks, among other projects. The timeline calls for the work, which would cost around $100,000, to be completed by mid-September.
If the project is approved for the 2023-24 school year, Lee said the plan is to have two classrooms finished this summer, with others completed throughout the coming school year. Once a room is remodeled, 15-20 pre-K children can be moved off the list and into a class, she explained.
In addition to the pre-K services, Lee said the J.T. Barber Early Literacy Center would also provide increased capacity for child-care services for employees and early intervention services to include developmental screenings and a behavioral support specialist.
The plan also includes a Workforce Readiness program for parents and a Family Literacy Program that would combine the teaching of literacy skills with child development and family empowerment programs.
Luanne Mack, school nurse coordinator, said the J.T. Barber Early Literacy Center would also provide a School Health Service Program that would include: acute care; management of chronic illnesses; mental health counseling; and preventive services, such as health education, physical and dental exams, and nutrition services.
Renee’ Harrell, pre-K and family literacy coordinator, said the health services are critically needed by 45% to 50% of the county’s pre-K students.
“Some of them have never been to a dentist and they’re four years old,” she told the board. “We have children that enroll in pre-K and do not have their up to date immunizations. We have children that have come in with health assessments that are three years old, so they saw a pediatrician when they were one and a half and have not been back.”
Though the school board members agreed that more pre-K services are needed in the community, they expressed concern that the plan was brought to them at such a late date. They also agreed that community input was needed before a final decision was reached.
Board member Kelli Muse said the wishes of J.T. Barber students and parents need to be heard.
“They’re the families that are going to be uprooted and I think they should have skin in the game where their kids are going to go to school,” she commented. “Do they want to be bussed across the river into James City? Do they want to go to Bridgeton? Their wishes absolutely need to be considered.”
Board member Lauren Kitzinger said she was “very disappointed in how this has played out.”
“It’s too late for this conversation. We have four months until the beginning of the next school year,” she commented. “I think even if we decided to go through with this that would be a miracle in the making and when we decided to have this conversation tonight I expected a much different conversation…I think the ball has been dropped on this greatly.”
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.