Creedmoor Elementary staff march ahead of public hearing on proposed school closure

CREEDMOOR, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some parents are upset at a plan that will move children out of schools and split up classrooms.

There was no doubt from Connie Hinesley that switching schools from Creedmoor Elementary School would not be easy for her granddaughter.

"Those kids are adjusted to that school," Hinesley said. "They had been there the whole time. She's a third grader from kindergarten and it's really hard to get adjusted to new things."

The Granville County Board of Education revisited the potential relocation of G.C. Hawley Middle School on Tuesday after a study in 2020 proposed closing Creedmoor Elementary and transferring students to neighboring elementary schools.

"The Board has been studying the topic of school reorganization for some time," Granville County Schools' Stan Winborne said. "Multiple scenarios have been studied in an effort to increase the operational efficiency of the district while ensuring the needs of our students are the top priority."

The district said the potential decision of the school closure and transferring these students to neighboring elementary schools "would require significant effort to implement," although the Board discussed the potential cost savings to the school district.

"Those teachers are still going to be employed," a presenter said during the Jan. 9 board meeting. "There are certain expenses that we're still going to have, even if those children are at a different school. We will lose absolutely the funding for one principal."

Former student Tiffany Smith reacted to the proposal.

"I have a lot of friends and of course, family, that's gone through that school and I think it's a landmark here," Smith said. "We grew up with all these kids in the same place. It's very different and especially hard for those young kids to get used to. We've had teachers that have definitely made an impact on our lives, people that we're still friends with on Facebook that check in on us all the time, and I think that's really unfortunate for our school systems."

All Board of Education meetings are live-streamed and each speaker who has signed up before it started will have up to three minutes to address the Board on this topic, according to the Granville County Public School System.