Burke County superintendent proposes moving Halliburton Academy into secure wing at Dron High; parents press for board vote

Burke County Schools Superintendent Mike Swan on Tuesday outlined a proposal to relocate Halliburton Academy into a secured wing at Dron High School, saying the move would preserve Halliburton’s separate identity while saving the district ‘‘a minimum of $400,000 annually.’’

Swan told the special-call meeting that Halliburton’s enrollment has fallen from about 90 students in 2023 to 36 at the start of 2025 and that McKissick Architecture’s facility study shows Dron has seats available to host a ‘‘school within a school.’’ ‘‘We immediately began to brainstorm problem solve to determine how we can provide a more robust educational experience for our students at Halliburton, but more efficiently,’’ Swan said.

The administration proposes a locked wing with its own bus drop-off, entrance and exit, bell schedule, principal and graduation ceremonies; Swan said students would keep Halliburton’s school number, colors and mascot, but would not be eligible for Dron athletics by default. Swan added the district would fund upfront retrofit work from the repair and renovation budget and that the relocation would equate to savings equal to nearly 9.8 teacher positions, freeing funds for the wider system.

Vern McKissick, the consultant who conducted the district’s five-year facility study, described utilization figures used to justify the plan. Using a state DPI calculation, McKissick said Dron’s building showed a calculated capacity of 992 seats with 683 students (about 68.9% utilization); under the district’s ‘‘practical capacity’’ measure, the same school yields a lower utilization percentage but still leaves available seats. By comparison, McKissick said Halliburton’s calculated capacity is 394 with 37 students—about a single-digit utilization rate.

Parents and community members raised multiple concerns during a lengthy Q&A. Misty Branch asked, ‘‘If there would be an increase back to, say, over 100 students, how would you accommodate for that many students in 1 wing of the school?’’ Swan and McKissick responded that the wing contains roughly 10 classrooms and that Dron has margin in practical seats, while Swan acknowledged the district had modeled a range of future enrollment scenarios.

Several speakers pressed safety and discipline issues. A parent cited state DPI summaries showing higher reported incident rates for Halliburton and asked whether one school resource officer could manage a larger, consolidated population; Swan said Dron would effectively have about 1.5 SRO positions and that security upgrades would include mag-lock doors tied to the fire panel, visitor intercoms and additional cameras. School staff cautioned that DPI public reports can conflate incidents by where a student ended the year, a point district staff member Miss Radford emphasized when discussing the limits of published discipline data.

A contested factual point emerged when a resident said she had law-enforcement call logs listing roughly 200 calls to Halliburton’s address over two years. Sheriff Heintzeman (introduced earlier by district staff) said compiled records of ‘‘true law-enforcement interventions’’ were far lower and comparable to other high schools. The exchange highlighted differing definitions between raw call logs and verified police interventions.

Community members also questioned alternatives, including locating Halliburton in another county facility or keeping a program-based model. Swan said the district considered other sites (including East Burke and Freedom) but cited transportation, classroom usage and overall costs when concluding Dron was the most practical option. Residents asked about the estimated upfit cost—comments during the meeting referenced figures between roughly $200,000 and $250,000—and whether spending to retrofit a wing is warranted while Halliburton’s enrollment trends downward.

No formal board vote on the relocation was recorded that evening. Several speakers asked the board to take a public vote so the community could hear the board’s position; after public comment the meeting was adjourned following a routine motion and voice vote on the agenda and adjournment.

The district said it will post the recorded meeting online and add submitted questions and answers to a Halliburton Q&A document; administrators also said they would follow up on any questions not answered that evening. Officials said placement decisions would continue to rely on multidisciplinary team hearings and that the district intends to preserve Halliburton’s wraparound supports while seeking the projected savings.

What’s next: administrators said allotment meetings and further planning would continue in April and May to align staffing and course offerings if the relocation proceeds; no final timetable or board action on the relocation was announced at the meeting.