Bladen County School Board makes decision on school consolidation

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC (WWAY) — Tonight the Bladen County Board of Education voted to move forward with consolidating three schools.

It was a packed house at the monthly Bladen County School board meeting. Parent Janice Ryckley sat in the audience with her son Christian to support his alma mater.

“Clarkton was where I actually became interested in science,” Christian said. “They have Science Olympiad and Beta Club. It’s the best in the county, and that’s where I really figured out that that’s what I wanted to do. I want to go to medical school now and become a neurosurgeon, because Clarkton gave me that baseline.”

The Ryckleys sat with dozens of others and listened as superintendent Robert Taylor recommended consolidating the district and saving two to three million dollars by closing Clarkton School of Discovery, Booker T. Washington Primary and Plain View Primary.

“What the board has tried to do over the last five to six years is to come up with all kinds of measures to save money, costing cutting measures, but you reach a point where those things don’t work and you have to make some tough decisions,” Taylor said.

It all came down to the board members’ vote. A tie broken by the chairman passed the recommendation, but Taylor said it’s not a done deal yet.

“What we do at this point is we meet with the community,” Taylor said. “We will have forums.”

While nothing is finalized, just the possibility of the consolidation left the sea of parents silent.

Taylor said the school system will post when and where the forums will be held over the next few months. He said they plan to make a decision by the end of the year.