With their Stewartsville Elementary School shirts on, Elizabeth Brown and her daughter Adaline showed up to the first Bedford County School Board town hall meeting with one request: Keep Stewartsville open.
Brown was one of dozens of residents, teachers, parents and students who came to voice their concerns at the first of three town hall meetings across the county scheduled to discuss options to save the district money in the coming years. All four options include the closure of Stewartsville Elementary School.
“If they close Stewartsville, I will pull my children out of Bedford County Schools,” Brown said.
While it was clear that emotions were high, School Board Vice Chair Marcus Hill emphasized that no decisions have been made.
“They’re options,” he said. “We can choose one of those four or we could choose none of them or we could do a combination.”
It’s not a surprise that Stewartsville would be on the chopping block. The 112-year-old school is in need of major repairs that could cost the county $20 million to $30 million. It’s also only at 56% capacity while the other schools in the district are at their capacity.
Ultimately, the school board’s concern is funding as board members look toward the future. The school district already has a nearly $3 million deficit. By the 2028-2029 school year, they expect to see an $8 million drop in state funding. (When the city of Bedford reverted to town status and became part of Bedford County in 2013, state law gave the county an advantageous calculation in the state’s school funding formula for the next 15 years. When that grace period expires, Bedford will be subject to the normal state funding formula, which accounts for the projected drop in state funding.)
“That cliff is coming and we have to be prepared,” Hill said.
But the board recognizes it’s an emotional decision, which is why discussion of the possible closing was added to the town halls that were already scheduled to hear input on the county’s superintendent search.
“When you talk about decommissioning a school or relocating students, you always want to hear from the community,” Hill said.
He said the board decided on the town hall style to make people more comfortable voicing their concerns and to help answer questions in a one-on-one setting.
Despite the setting, though, Brown said she still didn’t feel heard.
“[Stewartsville] always gets screwed,” she said. “It’s money that they [the school board] care about.”
Hill emphasized that the board’s priority is the students. However, he said that the board needs to use taxpayer dollars wisely.
“Any time you have a decreasing student population, you have to adjust,” Hill said. “What we’ve been very adamant about is this: it cannot impact your academics, but it has to be about budget efficiency.”
But Brown said there’s also well-being to consider. Brown brought a letter that her daughter had written for the school board.
“It said that she loved her teachers and her friends and didn’t want the school to close,” she said.
That was the same impact Stewartsville had on Brown as a student. She said it was a place where she found real friendships after moving around a lot with her family. Because of that Brown said she made an effort to make sure her children also got to go to Stewartsville.
It’s still making an impact even now as an adult and parent, she said.
“I was going through a tough time and I just broke down in the secretary’s office,” she said. “It also helped that she had been my cheer coach. It’s like a family.”
The next town hall meeting will be held from 4:30 to 8 p.m. March 5 at Jefferson Forest High School with another on March 19 at Staunton River High School at the same time.
