School board hears revised rezoning proposal

The head of the Glynn County School System updated board of education members on a proposed district-wide rezoning, which has been pared back to reflect changes in student enrollment and demographics since the proposal was first unveiled last year. Also at Tuesday’s board meeting, a group of parents showed up to protest the firing of an elementary school principal. Superintendent Mike Blackerby presented the revised rezoning and said he intends to bring it to the board for final approval in December. If approved, it would take effect during the 2027-2028 school year. “If you recall, back in December of 2024, we convened a task force and at that time, over the course of the next year, we worked through developing a proposed rezone, redrew the maps and posted a survey for community members to respond to,” Blackerby said. A new school being build at the north end of Golden Isles Parkway to replace Glyndale Elementary — now named Woodland Elementary School — spurred the rezoning. The original proposal was based on a desire to send all children to the geographically closest school and divide all schools into two groups of five elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school each, keeping the student bodies together. But the district’s enrollment changed. The original proposal was based on numbers from the 2023-2024 school year. As proposed, not all components would work due to the new numbers. For example, Glynn Academy now has more students than Brunswick High. The opposite was the case in 2023-2024. “We would be at a significant imbalance at all grade level bands — elementary, middle and high,” he said. “... The high school zones simply, as proposed, would not work. We would have almost 500 more students at Glynn Academy than Brunswick High.” In the revised plan, only half of the elementary schools will be rezoned — St. Simons, Oglethorpe, Burroughs Molette, Satilla Marsh and Goodyear will not change. Major changes include sending students from Magnolia Park and the area around the western end of Chapel Crossing Road to Altama Elementary, moving them from Golden Isles Elementary. Neighborhoods along Ga. 99 east of I-95 will go to the new Woodland school, moving them from C.B. Greer. No other changes to Greer’s zoning are planned. Sterling Elementary is the most crowded, and some areas now zoned for it will be split between Golden Isles and Woodland. Some Glynn Middle-zoned areas around Exit 36 will be rezoned to Risley Middle, and neighborhoods south of Parkwood and east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Altama Avenue will shift to Glynn Middle. The high school zones will not change right away, largely due to changing age demographics and the widening of U.S. 17 north of Brunswick from two lanes to four. With four lanes and a new concrete median, the district will need to adjust bus routes, Blackerby said. The revised proposal will be available to view in the coming weeks on the school district’s website. The public will have until December to submit comments. To view the proposal and leave feedback, use a browser to navigate to glynn.k12.ga.us and find the “2027 Proposed Rezoning for GCSS” link under the “Our District” tab, or visit glynn.k12.ga.us/261214_2 . In other business, the board heard from the parents of C.B. Greer Elementary School students who protested the firing of Principal Robin Hunter. Over a dozen turned out to support the recently terminated principal, but only two spoke during a public hearing segment of the meeting. Parents were told she was fired for a time card discrepancy, said Sarah Helder, C.B. Greer parent-teacher association president. To Helder, the reason given was not good enough. She said Hunter created a wonderful environment and culture at the school for staff, teachers and students, and made parents feel completely comfortable leaving their kids there. “The staff at Greer is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced at any other school,” Helder said. “The principal built something at Greer that I’ve never seen.” She worries the school’s quality will dip and said the PTA was already feeling her absence. Helder cited a study that found schools see losses in academic achievement for up to three years after losing a principal. “Culture is the hardest thing to build, and it’s the easiest thing to lose. Greer has a strong culture, and I fear we’re going to lose it,” Helder said. She used the analogy of an airplane crew that suddenly loses its pilot, leaving the crew scrambling. “I think the most discouraging thing to me is there was no word from the tower,” she said. “Not one. I was left flying blind as the PTA president.” She asked the board to give teachers and parents a seat on the search committee for a new principal and to share plans with staff and parents. Overall, Helder said she wanted better communication from the district office. Parent Bethany Knudson said she hates public speaking but cared enough about the issue to speak to the board at Tuesday’s meeting. She has had kids at C.B. Greer for seven years, six of whom were under the recently terminated principal. She felt like the school system let them down with the firing. The communication parents received from the board was vague for such a huge decision. “Was there any investigation? Was it an honest mistake or intentional misconduct? Was there any opportunity to correct the issue? Was termination the only option?” she asked. “... Here’s what concerns me most. We spend so much time teaching our children about character, kindness, grace, second chances and not judging someone by one mistake. Yet here we are, watching someone who has poured so much into our school lose her position over something we know almost nothing about. Board members did not respond to their comments. The board also voted to: • Spend just under $2 million on new restrooms at Brunswick High School’s track, baseball and softball facilities. • Buy $409,625 in new equipment for Glynn Academy’s weight room. • Buy $112,290 in equipment for Brunswick High School’s track and field team. • Pay for new lights for the Brunswick High softball and baseball fields, expected to cost $161,550 and $327,870 respectively. • Designate 13 school buses as surplus and sell them. The move would leave the school system with 158 buses. • Renew a $70,465 contract with BFC Solutions of Nashville to continue air filter replacement services.