MACON, Ga. — On Thursday, Nov. 7, Bibb County school leaders heard community input on plans to close schools next year. The next meeting - which will be held virtually - is scheduled for Nov. 14.
The district's School Consolidation Steering Committee has begun Phase 3 of its review. The committee already met in September and October, but tonight was the first time they opened their doors to outside input.
Parent Kishara Prince wants her concerns heard ahead of these potential changes.
One major factor on her mind is school culture, especially for her son with special needs.
"Consolidation, just the word of it sounded scary to me," Prince said. "Knowing that my child requires smaller class sizing, I was concerned it wouldn't be so small anymore. He's thriving for the first time, he just made it to sixth grade and I was concerned about overcrowding."
Deputy Superintendent Katika Lovett encouraged Prince and nearly 90 other people to keep an open mind.
"We have a lot of work to do, a lot of work to do in terms of analyzing what they had to say," Lovett said. "But again, their voices are so critical to this process, we wouldn't dare do it alone."
Educators, parents, students, and leaders from other districts joined the conversation, sharing mixed opinions.
Charles Goolsby, STEM outreach coordinator at Robins Air Force Base, works with students K-12 across Central Georgia, including Bibb County.
"I'm gonna be out dealing with kids, dealing with the students, dealing with the teachers, dealing with the academic people, kind of understanding what those changes might be, what they might be frustrated with," Goolsby said. "So, when I do have those conversations, I can relate a little bit more and can understand where they're coming from."
Key factors being considered in school closings include: building age and size, renovation year and cost, per-pupil spending: utilization rate (whether schools are underused or overcrowded), planning and zoning, development pipeline, resource allocation, post-COVID impact and enrollment trends.
The district has space for 24,600 students total, but currently has 21,337 enrolled.
Every district zone can currently seat hundreds more students, from 300 to 1,000 open seats.
Only Bibb three schools are over capacity: Howard Middle School, John R. Lewis Elementary and McKibben Lane Elementary.
"Change is hard. Anybody that's hit with change, there's always going to be some type of pushback and it's going to take a lot of conversations and a lot of work to make people at least a little bit comfortable with whatever will be happening," Goolsby said. "It's definitely going to have to be a continued conversation beyond just the initial, 'how you all feel about it?'"
Lovett says they plan to host more town halls as they continue Phase 3 through next February.
People who could not attend Thursday's meeting can give their opinions through an online survey. The survey will close on Nov. 22.