Resident urges district to consolidate high schools to preserve programs

At the public comment portion of the Randolph County Board of Education meeting, resident Robin Davis urged the board to consider consolidating secondary schools into a single high school and middle school to protect program quality and specialized instruction.

Davis said consolidation would allow the district to eliminate duplicative administrators, maintain facilities more efficiently and offer a broader set of electives and certified special-education staff. She argued that longer bus rides for elementary students are harmful and that vocational programs (notably pole-vault and trade skills) depend on sufficient student concentration to function.

Davis criticized what she described as politically driven decision-making and asked the board to develop multiple plans immediately so incoming board members have options to consider. She referenced recent local closures and said the district must plan for both academic continuity and financial realities.

The superintendent later presented enrollment projections and an empty-seat analysis that quantify the scale of underutilized capacity; Davis’s call for consolidation was discussed in that context but no consolidation decisions were made at the meeting.