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Granville County Schools superintendent outlines consolidation plan, cites $3M in annual recurring savings
Summary
Vice Superintendent Stan Windham presented a refreshed strategic plan and explained a consolidation that will reduce traditional high schools from three to two and produce recurring savings of about $3,000,000 annually, while promising no mass layoffs and plans to increase SRO coverage at high schools.
Stan Windham, Vice Superintendent for Granville County Schools, told the Oxford Board of Commissioners on April 15 that a refreshed strategic plan and recent school consolidation are intended to improve safety, staffing and educational opportunities while generating recurring operational savings.
Windham said the district’s five strategic priorities place safety first and that consolidation will reduce the number of traditional high schools from three to two—South Granville High School and J.F. Webb High School—starting next school year, with Granville Central Middle School to be formed from the former Granville Central High School campus. He forecasted attendance numbers of over 800 students at J.F. Webb and over 900 at South Granville next year and said the changes will allow expanded course offerings, more AP and CTE classes, and restored athletics opportunities.
On costs, Windham estimated the consolidation will save the district more than $3,000,000 each year through operational efficiencies and reduced deferred-maintenance burdens. He said the savings are recurring, not one‑time, and are essential because state and federal funding is allocated by student count rather than by number of buildings.
Concerns from commissioners focused on how larger student bodies would affect security and class size. Windham said the district plans to increase the number of School Resource Officers at each high school (from one to two) and is pursuing weapons‑detection systems funded in part by grants; he also said teacher vacancies have fallen to single digits and that administrators are working to place eight certified staff members still without assignments before the new school year through attrition, reassignment or position changes.
Windham emphasized the board’s role in supporting schools and invited continued collaboration, including municipal contributions to school resource officer placements at CG Cradle Elementary and other partnerships with local recreation and county entities.
Next steps: Windham will hold community meetings and online sessions to solicit input on the strategic-plan update and indicated specific facility and athletic upgrades will be announced as plans firm up.
