Keep Pine Hall Elementary from Closing
Keep Pine Hall Elementary from Closing
The Issue
Located in Pine Hall, North Carolina, lies a school that binds our local community together. Pine Hall Elementary has served the Pine Hall, NC community for decades. Many locals and their respective family members have gone through this school from Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten and graduated in the 12th grade when the school served as a high school in its past. The school is the common denominator in our community and we consider it a piece of our identity and a necessity for the educational success of the children who live within Pine Hall, NC.
Recent meetings with the Stokes County Board of Education have included conversations about the possible closure of the school. This closure idea has not been brought up because of any academic difficulties that the students at the school face, nor because of the infrastructure in which the school is housed within. Rather, the discussion of the possible closure has been brought up because it is projected that the schools' census count will fall below 100 pupils within the next academic year. To put into context, the school currently houses 103 pupils in the 2021-2022 academic year.
In North Carolina, for a public school to continue to receive funding for a school principal from the state, a school must maintain a census count of at least 100 pupils or more within the academic year. Given this projection, it has been discussed that Pine Hall Elementary School would lose funding for a principal and therefore close after the next academic year given upcoming kindergarten enrollment numbers in a deficit with the amount of 5th-grade students leaving to head to middle school.
Our rural and economically minuscule county can not afford to make up for the loss of state funds if they were to be rescinded due to the census count provisions in place by the North Carolina General Assembly. While we, the community, understand the financial reason as to why the Stokes County School Board is discussing this matter, we cannot approve of the closure of this school in any scenario.
The Stokes County Board of Education and the State of North Carolina do not work for the money it has or thinks it may save or receive in the future. It works for the people and the people of the Pine Hall community need this school to remain open at all costs. We know that the closure of this school will cause hardship to our families and we have to do what we can to prevent such hardship from developing.
In this instance, the Pine Hall Elementary School district would be divided into possibly up to 3 different local elementary school districts which are London Elementary, Walnut Cove Elementary, and/or Sandy Ridge Elementary if the school were to close. London Elementary is already a crowded elementary school for its school size and available staffing and would in a common-sense solution, be a last resort solution to this issue, but it has to be viewed as a possibility in this scenario. Walnut Cove Elementary, though larger, would extend bus routes for the school and or require additional bus staffing and teaching staff to adapt to the influx of students who are coming from the Pine Hall area. Given the shortage of bus drivers in Stokes County, North Carolina, and nationwide, this will not be an easy gap to fill without significant recruitment.
If the difficulty persists in staffing bus routes and the school or county administrators use existing buses to route to Pine Hall, we can expect that students will have longer bus rides home which will pose an inconvenience to students and parents. Sandy Ridge Elementary, though not as crowded as London or Walnut Cove Elementary, is in one of the remoter parts of Stokes County. Sandy Ridge is a long distance from residents who live in the Pine Hall area and Madison area, which is part of the Pine Hall school district. Given many people's lack of transportation options, the current cost of gasoline, the lack of economic resources and income within the Pine Hall and Madison communities, and the lack of a public transit option for citizens and students (outside of using the school bus), this move would cost families more money, time, and effort, which many families simply cannot afford to lose.
We can expect similar staffing issues with busing, longer car rides for parents who do not bus their kids, an increase in the amount of fuel used by our buses to pick up and drop off these students due to longer bus routes, and a reduction of the number of employed staffers within the Stokes County School System if the school were to close and if any other elementary school district annexed any portion of the existing Pine Hall Elementary school district.
The teachers at Pine Hall Elementary are not paid the wage they deserve, as can be said about many teachers, but they are the blood, sweat, and tears of our great school. The school closure would result in their employment being rescinded in most cases and leaving many of these young and bright-minded teachers scrambling to find new employment at another school or another public or private industry. Losing talent and intellect in our community is devastating for the social infrastructure of our community.
Geographically, our school is within the perfect position to reduce the potential strain a possible school closure could cause on nearby elementary schools in the Stokes County School system. The school, being placed in the southeastern part of Stokes County, serves as a critical access educational facility for residents in a part of the county that is constantly neglected and geographically distant from other parts of the county.
Ask any resident of the Pine Hall community who has grown up or understands the importance of this school in the community and you will get a response that is positive about the school and is most likely not in favor of the school's closure. We, as the community, will fight to make sure our school remains open. We are open to options that the Stokes County School Board or the State of North Carolina have to make sure our school remains open and that the students of the area are given an equal opportunity in pursuing higher education and with the hope of achieving their American Dream.
As a member of the Pine Hall community and alumni of the elementary school, I truly believe that closing the school would be a bad move if it were to go through. I hope you see why I believe this and will fight with me and the Pine Hall community to keep our school open and voice our concerns loud and clear to the Stokes County Board of Education. Let us make sure this does not happen. Let's save Pine Hall Elementary School!
Sources used to assist with this petition:
2,350
The Issue
Located in Pine Hall, North Carolina, lies a school that binds our local community together. Pine Hall Elementary has served the Pine Hall, NC community for decades. Many locals and their respective family members have gone through this school from Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten and graduated in the 12th grade when the school served as a high school in its past. The school is the common denominator in our community and we consider it a piece of our identity and a necessity for the educational success of the children who live within Pine Hall, NC.
Recent meetings with the Stokes County Board of Education have included conversations about the possible closure of the school. This closure idea has not been brought up because of any academic difficulties that the students at the school face, nor because of the infrastructure in which the school is housed within. Rather, the discussion of the possible closure has been brought up because it is projected that the schools' census count will fall below 100 pupils within the next academic year. To put into context, the school currently houses 103 pupils in the 2021-2022 academic year.
In North Carolina, for a public school to continue to receive funding for a school principal from the state, a school must maintain a census count of at least 100 pupils or more within the academic year. Given this projection, it has been discussed that Pine Hall Elementary School would lose funding for a principal and therefore close after the next academic year given upcoming kindergarten enrollment numbers in a deficit with the amount of 5th-grade students leaving to head to middle school.
Our rural and economically minuscule county can not afford to make up for the loss of state funds if they were to be rescinded due to the census count provisions in place by the North Carolina General Assembly. While we, the community, understand the financial reason as to why the Stokes County School Board is discussing this matter, we cannot approve of the closure of this school in any scenario.
The Stokes County Board of Education and the State of North Carolina do not work for the money it has or thinks it may save or receive in the future. It works for the people and the people of the Pine Hall community need this school to remain open at all costs. We know that the closure of this school will cause hardship to our families and we have to do what we can to prevent such hardship from developing.
In this instance, the Pine Hall Elementary School district would be divided into possibly up to 3 different local elementary school districts which are London Elementary, Walnut Cove Elementary, and/or Sandy Ridge Elementary if the school were to close. London Elementary is already a crowded elementary school for its school size and available staffing and would in a common-sense solution, be a last resort solution to this issue, but it has to be viewed as a possibility in this scenario. Walnut Cove Elementary, though larger, would extend bus routes for the school and or require additional bus staffing and teaching staff to adapt to the influx of students who are coming from the Pine Hall area. Given the shortage of bus drivers in Stokes County, North Carolina, and nationwide, this will not be an easy gap to fill without significant recruitment.
If the difficulty persists in staffing bus routes and the school or county administrators use existing buses to route to Pine Hall, we can expect that students will have longer bus rides home which will pose an inconvenience to students and parents. Sandy Ridge Elementary, though not as crowded as London or Walnut Cove Elementary, is in one of the remoter parts of Stokes County. Sandy Ridge is a long distance from residents who live in the Pine Hall area and Madison area, which is part of the Pine Hall school district. Given many people's lack of transportation options, the current cost of gasoline, the lack of economic resources and income within the Pine Hall and Madison communities, and the lack of a public transit option for citizens and students (outside of using the school bus), this move would cost families more money, time, and effort, which many families simply cannot afford to lose.
We can expect similar staffing issues with busing, longer car rides for parents who do not bus their kids, an increase in the amount of fuel used by our buses to pick up and drop off these students due to longer bus routes, and a reduction of the number of employed staffers within the Stokes County School System if the school were to close and if any other elementary school district annexed any portion of the existing Pine Hall Elementary school district.
The teachers at Pine Hall Elementary are not paid the wage they deserve, as can be said about many teachers, but they are the blood, sweat, and tears of our great school. The school closure would result in their employment being rescinded in most cases and leaving many of these young and bright-minded teachers scrambling to find new employment at another school or another public or private industry. Losing talent and intellect in our community is devastating for the social infrastructure of our community.
Geographically, our school is within the perfect position to reduce the potential strain a possible school closure could cause on nearby elementary schools in the Stokes County School system. The school, being placed in the southeastern part of Stokes County, serves as a critical access educational facility for residents in a part of the county that is constantly neglected and geographically distant from other parts of the county.
Ask any resident of the Pine Hall community who has grown up or understands the importance of this school in the community and you will get a response that is positive about the school and is most likely not in favor of the school's closure. We, as the community, will fight to make sure our school remains open. We are open to options that the Stokes County School Board or the State of North Carolina have to make sure our school remains open and that the students of the area are given an equal opportunity in pursuing higher education and with the hope of achieving their American Dream.
As a member of the Pine Hall community and alumni of the elementary school, I truly believe that closing the school would be a bad move if it were to go through. I hope you see why I believe this and will fight with me and the Pine Hall community to keep our school open and voice our concerns loud and clear to the Stokes County Board of Education. Let us make sure this does not happen. Let's save Pine Hall Elementary School!
Sources used to assist with this petition:
2,350
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Petition created on April 25, 2022