Sumter School District community session No. 2 more orderly than first meeting

Meeting guidelines set early for discussing school closings

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With discussion ground rules set in place at the outset of the meeting, Sumter School District's second "community conversation session" on a school consolidation proposal had less outbursts, was more orderly and generally went off more smoothly Monday night.

The purpose of the sessions - which run through this weekend - is to gather community feedback on Interim Superintendent Debbie Hamm's draft proposal to close three low-enrollment schools in the district and move those students into nearby schools in the county and implement nationally recognized programs into them.

After a sometimes-boisterous community meeting on Thursday at Sumter High School, Sumter School District's Board of Trustees Chairman the Rev. Daryl McGhaney laid out conversation guidelines at the start of Monday's session at Cherryvale Elementary School. Those included each discussion group having a designated table leader to specifically report each round table's concerns with Hamm's proposal and forbidding any personal attacks during the meeting. Also, each attendee was advised to write down his or her questions with the draft proposal on a notecard. Then, those notecards were collected, and Hamm answered those questions during a question-and-answer time.

Rezoning school attendance lines and increased class sizes with the potential school closures were common concerns expressed by the public Monday.

Regarding class sizes, Hamm emphasized the draft consolidation proposal would increase "school size" but not "class size" because teachers at the potentially affected schools would move to the nearby schools with the students.

Several attendees also asked the interim superintendent why rezoning options of student attendance lines are not being considered by district staff in a proposal to potentially increase enrollment at low-enrollment schools. Then, they said, those schools wouldn't need to close.

Hamm said research shows rezoning doesn't save money over time and can actually increase bus transportation costs for a district. Also, given various options for families today, such as home school and private school, and the trend of residents moving away from rural areas of the county, rezoning doesn't appear to be a good option currently.

The district faces three low-enrollment schools in Mayewood Middle School (projected 135 students next year), Rafting Creek Elementary School (projected 152 students next year) and F.J. DeLaine Elementary School (projected 124 students next year) as it tries to build its general fund balance after major financial difficulties in fiscal 2015 and '16. Hamm became interim superintendent on Aug. 1.

Like the first community-input meeting last week, most community members in attendance Monday had concerns with Hamm's proposal and were against closing any schools.

Hamm said she realizes closing schools is a sensitive and emotional issue because it involves children, but she thinks considering the issue now with an interim superintendent is better than in a couple years with a new, permanent superintendent.

"There are people who care about these decisions for numerous reasons, and these things touch emotionally as well as rationally, and I recognize that," Hamm said.

However, she pointed to the fact that the identified schools have faced declining enrollment for many years and Sumter County's live birth rate has dipped during the last five years; therefore, projected enrollment in those schools is likely to continue to decline.

In Hamm's draft consolidation proposal, Mayewood Middle would close at the end of this school year, with its students and teachers moving to R.E. Davis Elementary School, which would become a K-8 magnet school. Similarly, Rafting Creek Elementary in Rembert would close and merge into Hillcrest Middle School in Dalzell in another K-8 magnet school. Finally, Hamm's proposal calls for F.J. DeLaine Elementary in Wedgefield to close, and students and teachers would move to Cherryvale Elementary as a combined elementary school with a science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) focus.

About 35 community members attended Monday's meeting at Cherryvale Elementary. The "community conversation sessions" continued Tuesday night at R.E. Davis Elementary's cafeteria. The next session will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at Hillcrest Middle's cafeteria.