'We have to make changes': Augusta school board hears community input on rightsizing plan

Many in Augusta have been very loud about their thoughts on a proposal to "rightsize" area public schools, and over the past week, they didn't hold back in public forums.

The Richmond County School System played host to several community input meetings regarding their tentative Facilities Masters Plan, which would close multiple schools, open others and move many students around over the next few years to better utilize resources and secure more state funding.

There was a wide range of topics and issues brought up throughout the week, from questions about funding and transparency to teacher placement and concerns about students with special needs.

Rightsizing: Augusta school rightsizing plan angers some, supported by others ahead of input meetings

Peggy Dixon, a social worker, was concerned about the anxiety issues these moves might induce.

"These children have really gone through a lot emotionally and socially with the COVID shutdown," Dixon said. "Children have to have stability ... particularly for our small children who sort of look at their teachers, not as a substitute mother, but as someone who loves them, and they're going to be jerked out and put in unfamiliar surroundings with someone they don't even know."

Many like Cornelius Shankle believed that this was largely centered around money, with multiple comments from residents about increasing taxes and pursuing other forms of funding to make the necessary adjustments.

"If we are here to do the best for our students, I think we need to go back to Atlanta and wherever else and get more money," Shankle said. "If we can go into a James Brown Arena, and I'm all for that, we should be able to get the money and the funding to provide for whatever we need."

The new arena was funded with a 0.5% sales tax Augusta voters approved last fall which will go into effect in April. However, as HPM Vice President of Planning Services Tracy Richter has stated at all of the meetings where he presented, this is not just about getting more money for the school district.

"Part of it is about making sure that the money we get from the state is maximized for every building," Richter said. "To use art teachers as an example, when the state funds you, they go, 'You've got this many students, you get this many art teachers.' Well, when you need 500 kids to staff an art teacher, but you have 28 schools ... that average 400, that means you're going to fall short 10 art teachers and so you have to fund that yourself."

Mattie Hubbard said she feels like she's caught between a rock and a hard place, not liking the plan for A.R. Johnson Magnet School, where one of her children attends, but wanting more for her other child that's not at a magnet school.

"I would like to see more programming and better things at his school, but what are we sacrificing?" asked Hubbard. "There's got to be some strings attached. People who dump money on you, they want a return on their investment. It's something that they want from you."

While the plan lists multiple school movements, including changes to the magnet schools, the main schools that will see big changes in the next year include Richmond Hill K-8, Belair K-8, A. Brian Merry Elementary, Spirit Creek Middle and Tutt Middle. However, Richter still addressed the magnet schools at great length, explaining that they will not close any magnet schools.

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Some parents and local leaders expressed their support. Richmond County Board of Education President Charlie Walker commented on how the proposed changed might impact poor scores garnered by some schools on the Georgia's College Career and Readiness Index.

"I've been on the board for seven years and this is the first real opportunity that I have seen to take Richmond County out of that bottom 10," Walker said. "Aside from all the great work the staff does, all the great work the teachers do in the classroom, this is something that we're going to be able to afford to give our kids all of the programs and all of the things that are necessary for them to succeed."

More information on the plan, including playback video footage of the previous input meetings, are available online at rcboe.org/Page/87344.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta, Richmond County school rightsizing comments at input meetings