CAIRO, Ga. (WCTV) – Northside Elementary School will be closed as part of a district-wide rezoning plan.
The Grady County School Board voted to proceed with the decision at a public hearing this week. Officials said finances and resources were the main factors in the decision to close the school.
Superintendent Eric McPhee said Northside Elementary School serves 350 students and is the smallest school in the county. Officials said that's why they chose Northside.
McPhee told WCTV that all teachers and support staff will continue to work. He said staff and students at Northside Elementary School will be relocated to one of the district's four other elementary schools: Shiver Elementary School, Whigham Elementary School, Eastside Elementary School and Southside Elementary School.
School board member John White said all Northside parents and staff received a letter stating which school they could transfer to next year.
He said the county is facing a difficult financial situation.
“We had too many seats to cover the state funding, so we believed we would have to raise taxes close to, if not more than, $3 million to keep the schools open,” White said. Told. “It was our smallest school. It made sense because it was landlocked and we had very limited space for campus expansion and campus growth, such as new buildings.”
Officials estimate that closing the school will save the district about $4 million.
Northside students will finish the school year on campus and adjust to the rezoning transition at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, officials said.
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