Please note: Any donations made to this campaign are solicited by change.org to promote advertising and website administrative costs. Donations to this page do not fund the gymnatorium project.

Edith L. Frierson Montessori Elementary School is the only school located on rural Wadmalaw Island in Charleston County, South Carolina. The school unfortunately lacks an indoor space, frequently referred to as a gymnatorium, for students to gather for sports, physical education classes, extracurricular activities or school-wide meetings. The cafeteria is frequently used as the only multipurpose space, but it cannot accommodate school-wide events.

Formerly known as Rockville Elementary, the previously all-Black school was built in 1953 with SC "equalization funds" which were designed to build schools for Black students in South Carolina. These schools were traditionally built without gymnasiums or auditoriums. A total of 20 new schools were constructed in Charleston County in the 1950s, and Frierson Elementary is among only 4 that remain without gymnasium access. One of those schools is being replaced in the 2025-2026 school year. The other 2 schools are located within 1 block of recreational facilities. The closest athletic facilities to Frierson are 9.4 miles away at St. John's High School on Johns Island, which is not a realistic option for Frierson students due to the 40-minute round trip commute, transportation logistics and loss of instructional time.

Frierson Elementary benefits from the added supports provided to Title I schools and would achieve increased positive outcomes with a dedicated gymantorium space. Beside the community and school climate boost that would inevitably occur with the facility upgrade, research indicates that academic advancement could be made as well. Numerous research studies continue to identify positive associations between physical activity and academic performance regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status. According to the 2022-2023 report card for the entire district, Edith L. Frierson Elementary is one of nine schools listed as a priority for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI). Of all Title I schools in the state, CSI priority schools are those that perform at or below the tenth percentile in the state. According to the SC Department of Education, addressing systemic issues in CSI schools is necessary for implementation of effective solutions. One could categorize that the gymnatorium's continued absence, especially since the formerly segregated school was founded in 1953, is a systemic issue. And gymnatorium/gymnasium space is a need due to the previously mentioned reasons. Indeed, not having a dedicated space for school-wide meetings, physical education classes, extracurricular and sports activities for over seventy years appears to be a deficiency. Phase one of the Continuous Improvement Plan developed by the State of South Carolina Department of Education (2023) requires deficiencies to be diagnosed by assessing the specific strengths and weaknesses of each school. Community engagement is also recommended in phase one, and it has been repeatedly requested by the community, including parents, staff, and the Friends of Frierson, that a gymnatorium space is a severely neglected need in the community. The gymnatorium project is not currently included in the school's 5-year renewal plan. 

To date, repeated requests for gymnatorium funding have failed to secure approval. A request was made to the board during public comments at the 5/13/2019 Committee of the Whole Meeting. A St. Johns Constituent District 9 (D9) meeting on 10/19/2021 mentioned that the Frierson Gymnatorium request was ongoing still without answers from the district. A public comment was submitted prior to the 11/15/2021 CCSD Board of Trustees Meeting. Unfortunately, board members did not respond to these comments, as evidenced by reviewing the meeting on YouTube. Multiple public comments were submitted prior to the 12/13/2021 CCSD Committe of the Whole Board Meeting. Unfortunately, board members did not respond to these comments, as evidenced by reviewing the meeting on YouTube. Minutes from a St. Johns Constituent D9 meeting on 4/5/2022 indicated that the gymnatorium was approved according to then-principal Dr. Davis-Cummings and that cost for the project was estimated at $4 million. Minutes from a St. Johns Constituent D9 meeting on 9/7/2022 state "still working on the gymnasium." 

In 2023, work order (WO) #539611, which was created in 2019, appeared on page 5 of the 2024 Fixed Cost of Ownership (FCO) list under "additional projects requested" in the Facilities Maintenance category. The CCSD Board approved the list of priority projects at the 2/27/2023 Board of Trustees regular meeting. Unfortunately, funding for Frierson’s $5 million gymnatorium was not secured because WO# 539611 was listed under "additional projects requested." A project number has not been assigned to date for the Frierson gymnatorium. At the 1/3/2024 Trustees meeting, BAN2023 funding was secured for the projects listed, but the gymnatorium for some reason didn't make it to the priority list. We still do not know how funding priorities are determined for capital projects, but they should not be influenced by whether or not other facilities maintenance needs have been addressed in recent years.  

Exterior maintenance, heating and air servicing or other foreseeable necessary upgrades are part of CCSD policy to ensure. Additionally, the rural school covenant that CCSD enacted in 2009 states that an additional 20% shall be allocated to rural schools per pupil expenditures above the district average. Furthermore, it was mentioned at a D9 Community meeting held on 6/30/2020 for the new elementary school that plans for Frierson’s gymnatorium were deferred.

Proponents have repeatedly tried for years to secure this need for the students of Frierson; many students have moved on to other schools or aged out of the elementary school. Indeed, school enrollment numbers indicate a potential trend that students dis-enroll as they age. A suggested explanation for this is Frierson's strength as an early education program that attracts families of 3-6 year olds. As students grow, importance on physical activity, sports, recreation and extracurriculars becomes more apparent, and Frierson does not have the facility to provide these important aspects for holistic student growth. Therefore students are enrolling in other schools that offer these upgraded facilities for their upper elementary students.

Please consider signing this petition to demonstrate your support for a gymnatorium space.

Our goal is for the following steps to occur in calendar year 2024:

1.) For work order# 539611 to be assigned a project number, 

2.) For the Audit and Finance Committee to vote to either reallocate funds to the gymnatorium or identify new funding at the next available opportunity (reallocations are approved at each monthly Audit and Finance Committee meeting),

3.) For CCSD Board members to be given the opportunity to vote on funding the gymnatorim as an action item at the next subsequent meeting,

4.) For construction to appear in the next subsequent procurement request for funds over $250,000 so that construction can commence as soon as possible,

5.) That funds for the gymnatorium project NOT be reallocated by the Audit and Finance Committee to ensure completion of the project in a timely manner.

A copy of our letter is available upon request. Thank you!

Please note: Any donations made to this campaign are solicited by change.org to promote advertising and website administrative costs. Donations to this page do not fund the gymnatorium project.