Brunswick County leaders gather to provide input for school district’s next 5-year plan

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — The Brunswick County School Board and community leaders from across the county met at Brunswick County Community College to discuss the school district’s next 5-year plan.

The meeting, held on November 29th, wasn’t the only one that day as the school district is giving a variety of groups the opportunity to provide input about the plan, which aims to accommodate the anticipated continued growth of the county.

From November 27th through the 29th, a number of focus groups have been held, each one giving a different demographic the chance to discuss the plan. Such groups included one with elementary school teachers while another had high school students.

Randy Thompson, chairman of Brunswick County’s Board of Commissioners, said he sees the new plan helping students through 12th grade and beyond.

“Getting to the point where in Brunswick County, K through 14 is the norm instead of K through 12,” Thompson said. “You know, we want to make sure that in Brunswick County, with it being of no cost to the student to attend the community college, we are the K through 14 example for the state of North Carolina.”

Brunswick County Superintendent Dale Cole said all of these focus groups will give the school district a way to build a plan that everyone can support and that helps every student in the county.

“My hope and aspiration is we walk away from this with clear goals and direction on where we want to go as a community in the next 5 years that everyone can get beyond, everyone understands why these are our goals,” Cole said.

An online survey will be made available for students, parents and staff to fill out, starting on December 4th and ending on the 15th.

The school district’s next 5 year plan will be officially adopted in June 2024.