The Granville County Board of Education is a step closer to determining whether to close one or more school campuses in the southern end of the county as it continues to define its school reorganization plan. During its May 3 meeting, the board voted unanimously to begin a study to close Granville Central High School and repurpose the campus.
Dr. Stan Winborne, district public information officer and assistant superintendent of operations & human resources, said in a press release that the campus, located off Sanders Road in Stem could possibly be used to house students from G.C. Hawley Middle School or South Granville High School.
In other action at the meeting on Monday, the board announced some district leadership changes. Lisa Tusa, currently principal at South Granville High School in Creedmoor, will become the new principal at Northern Granville Middle School in Oxford. She replaces Dr. Brenda Williamson, who will take over as principal at C.G. Credle Elementary in Oxford. Sherrie Burns, current principal at Credle, recently announced her resignation for the upcoming school year.
Tusa has been principal at SGHS for 13 of the 22 years she has been an educator. Williamson was principal at Mary Potter Middle School in Oxford and moved to NGM when the two campuses merged a few years ago.
The board also voted to direct district staff to review and update the possible closing of two elementary schools – Wilton and Creedmoor – those studies were paused back in the fall pending additional input from a strategic task force.
Board Chair David Richardson formed the task force, which presented findings to the board in April. “Their findings were presented to the board in April, which helped inform the Board’s current course of action,” Winborne stated.
Next steps of the school reorganizations may be determined at an upcoming board work session on May 17. “The goal of the is to finalize any possible reorganization decisions prior to July 1, 2021,” according to Winborne, but the actual closing or mergers likely would take effect for the 2022-23 school year.