The Granville County Board of Education voted Wednesday to close the Mary Potter Center for Education, moving Granville Academy, Phoenix Academy and Central Office personnel housed there to the former Hawley Middle School in Creedmoor.
The reason: a four-letter word. Mold.
Superintendent Dr. Stan Winborne said the annual air quality testing turned up no unusual results back in May, but subsequent testing conducted earlier this month – prompted by a complaint from an employee who works on the campus – showed that 24 of 30 air samples taken and 10 of 16 surface samples revealed the presence of mold spores.
Winborne offered two options to the school board, but requested that it take action at the special called meeting held Wednesday afternoon.
One option called for relocating students and staff to the Creedmoor campus, which had previously been Hawley Middle School and before that, Creedmoor Elementary for the time it takes to get rid of the mold and fix the problem before returning to the historic Oxford campus. This option, he estimated, could take up to 18 months and cost north of $6 million.
The second option called for closing the campus and relocating students and staff to Creedmoor permanently, at an estimated cost of closer to $220,000.
Granville Academy students have already switched to modified remote learning; the Phoenix Academy, housed in a relatively newer one-story metal building on the school’s campus, doesn’t have the same issues as the other brick structures where some central office staff and Granville Academy are housed.
Board Member Gwen Russell made the motion to select the second option, which was seconded by Board Member Vicki Baker and passed 5-0. Board Member Ethel Anderson was not present, and Board Member Amanda LeBrecque attended virtually.
The county office staff and Granville Academy will move first, then the rest will relocate in phases.
“We won’t waste any time,” Winborne said.
Strong Arm Baking Co. rents out the kitchen at the school, and Winborne said he’d spoken with the owner, who has expressed interest in using the kitchen in Creedmoor.
The gym on the Mary Potter campus has been a polling place, and it’s set to be put to use in the upcoming municipal elections. Winborne said he’d spoken with Granville Board of Elections Tonya Burnette. The gym was included in the annual air quality testing conducted in May, but it was not part of the re-testing. It does not have air conditioning, but does have two big exhaust fans that provide adequate air circulation.
The future of the campus is uncertain, but it’s possible that the school board would declare it surplus property and sell it.
“This is a historic place and it deserves to be honored in some way,” he said.
School board member Katrina Waters said, “It hurts that this has happened to this historical facility. But I do understand that dollars talk…I hope this is a lesson that we need to be more proactive when it comes to our facilities.”
