Greenwood Public School District’s board of trustees on Thursday approved a plan to use the former W.C. Williams Elementary School site on Carrollton Avenue as a lower-grades campus of Threadgill Elementary.
Superintendent Jennifer Wilson told the board that the move would alleviate overcrowding at Threadgill, which currently houses some 800 students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.
Under the plan, about 300 of those students in pre-k, kindergarten and first grade would move to the former Williams campus.
The move could enable expansion of pre-kindergarten programs, a goal the district has pursued under Wilson’s leadership. Currently, the district is utilizing a $750,000 state grant for a pre-kindergarten collaborative program that includes classrooms at Gilliam Head Start, Judy’s Kids early learning center and Threadgill, which houses all of the district’s pre-kindergarten classes.
Wilson said parents and teachers had provided feedback in surveys from the district, and the bulk of it indicated approval of the plan.
“This will alleviate congestion at dropoff and pickup times and will prevent older and younger children from sharing the same buses,” Wilson said. “More importantly, it will make it possible for administrators at the school to focus on the specific needs of kids in pre-kindergarten through first grade.”
At Threadgill, the move will free up the library, gym and computer labs for more frequent use by students in second through sixth grades.
Wilson said the move requires approval of the Mississippi Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Justice Department’s approval, according to board attorney Carlos Palmer, amounts to a sign-off on a modification on the last order submitted for its approval, when Williams was closed.
The school was closed as a cost-saving measure in 2015 at the recommendation of former Superintendent Montrell Greene. At the time it was reported that the school, built in the 1930s and added onto in the ’50s and ’60s, needed $1.7 million in repairs.
Students who previously attended Williams were transferred to Threadgill and Bankston schools with the bulk going to Threadgill.
Wilson said the district will rely on guidance from MDE to orchestrate the move. She said the district hopes to make the move by the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.
She also emphasized that this is not a re-opening of W.C. Williams School but the opening of a new branch of Threadgill. What the school will be named, she said, is up to the board.
In other school business:
• In a packed session held at Greenwood Middle School, the board handed out its usual student, parent, certified employee and classified employee of the month awards as well as awards for the year in all categories.
The board also awarded Accelerated Reader of the month recognition to one student from each school. The Accelerated Reader program, instituted in the fall of 2016, was designed to get students reading more books and thus raising reading proficiency scores on state-issued exams.
nWilson announced that early scores on the third grade reading gate test, which determines whether a student is reading at a proficient level to move on to fourth grade, showed “district-wide improvement.” She offered no specifics.
• Wilson acknowledged the district’s partnership with Milwaukee Electric Tool and an internship/vocational education program offered to seniors at Greenwood High School, as well as the recent gift of $5,000 distributed to individual students and teachers by local businessman Suresh Chawla.
She also recognized the fathers of Bankston Elementary School who, last September, participated in the national Million Fathers March movement. Around 50 Bankston-affiliated men lined the hallway offering high-fives to students heading to class, and signed contracts committing to becoming and remaining involved in their children’s education. The Bankston men’s experience was recently featured in a state education publication.
• District Business Manager Temeka Jones told the board the district had spent about 59 percent of its budgeted funds for the fiscal year through the end of April. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Board member Randy Clark said: “You’ve spent 60 precent 75 percent of the way through the year? You’re doing a good job.”
• The board approved plans for the Special Education Extended Year Program that will take place June 5-29 at Threadgill and Bankston, from 8 a.m. until noon, Mondays through Thursdays. The program is designed to give special education students an opportunity to receive special instruction that will enhance their academic achievement, according to Wilson.
The board also approved spending $16,000 to support 10 special education teachers in training to develop Individual Education Plans for their students during that same time period.
• The board approved the district’s 2017 Summer Feeding Program, to be held June 5-29 at Bankston, Davis, Threadgill and Greenwood Middle School. Breakfast and lunch will be served to qualified students at all schools. Details will be announced at a later date and will be advertised widely, Wilson said.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
