Cumberland County Schools holding public forum on school reassignment proposals

Myron B. Pitts, The Fayetteville Observer
·2 min read
Carrol Olinger, grandparent of a student at T.C. Berrien speaks at a parents meeting for Cumberland County Schools on Nov. 19, 2019. The Fayetteville, N.C., school was closed and its student body was located to Spring Lake, N.C., which is 10 miles away, after mold and air-quality issues were discovered.
Carrol Olinger, grandparent of a student at T.C. Berrien speaks at a parents meeting for Cumberland County Schools on Nov. 19, 2019. The Fayetteville, N.C., school was closed and its student body was located to Spring Lake, N.C., which is 10 miles away, after mold and air-quality issues were discovered.

Cumberland County Schools officials will hold the last of three forums on Thursday to give families a chance to weigh in on preliminary school reassignments.

The reassignment is part of a process of permanently closing T.C. Berrien Elementary School on North Street in Fayetteville. School district leaders presented the proposals on Jan. 4 to the Cumberland County Board of Education. In 2019, Berrien students were moved to W.T. Brown, a school 10 miles away, because of issues at Berrien that related to air quality and the school building’s foundation.

The Thursday forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Ferguson-Easley Elementary School, 1857 Seabrook Road. It will concern the attendance areas of Berrien, Lucile Souders, Ferguson-Easley, Glendale Acres, Ashley and Walker-Spivey elementary schools, and Luther “Nick” Jeralds and R. Max Abbott middle schools.

People who attend the forums will be required to follow the 3 W’s of COVID-19 protocol: Wait 6 feet; wash hands; and wear a mask, according to a news release from the school system.

People can also submit feedback online at the CCS Student Reassignment web page, which has more information about the plans under discussion.

More: Cumberland County school board hears student reassignment plans

The school system release states: “In developing options, which would impact schools in the T.C. Berrien area and potentially other schools in the district, multiple factors were considered, such as campus proximity, facility utilization and diversity.”

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A forum held Tuesday evening was held at W.T. Brown Elementary School in Spring Lake and concerned the Lillian Black, Brown and Manchester elementary schools attendance areas.

A forum held Monday evening involved the merger of Douglas Byrd Middle School and Ireland Drive Middle School, which currently only serves sixth graders.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County Schools holding public forum on school reassignment proposals