There is still plenty to figure out about how to redistrict Glynn County’s public schools, and nothing at this point is final.
But Glynn County Schools Superintendent Scott Spence knows one thing for sure: both elementary schools on St. Simons Island will remain open. The plan the redistricting committee is developing will lead to some changes in which students attend the two schools.
The committee decided early on in the process, which started earlier this year, that access for parents to elementary schools was a top priority. That put an emphasis on people attending schools closer to their homes.
With that in mind, the committee is looking at ending the process of busing students who live in the south end of downtown Brunswick to St. Simons and Oglethorpe Point elementary schools.
But when those 100-200 students are moved from the two island elementary schools to Burroughs-Molette Elementary — the closest school to those neighborhoods — the two island schools will not be full, Spence said.
“The island schools, if they were only populated by students who live on St. Simons Island, they would be too small,” he said. “But if they all went to one, we would be maxed out.”
That would leave zero room for growth when needed, he said.
There are about 650 elementary school-aged children who attend public schools on St. Simons Island, Spence said. So a different plan is necessary to keep enough children at both island schools after the redistricting.
Redistricting was prompted by the future construction of a new elementary school on Golden Isles Parkway that will replace Glyndale Elementary. Populating the school at the new location created a ripple effect that led to a complete redistricting for all schools, especially elementary schools, in the system, Spence said.
That process is long and must be handled thoughtfully, he said. Spence created an eight-person committee that includes Bobby Henderson, City Commissioner Kendra Rolle, Scott Ryfun, Joe Souza, Andy Jones, John Williams, Keith Reddings and Catina Tindall to guide the process. They are meeting regularly to hash out the specifics of the school zones with an eye on ensuring easy access to elementary schools for parents.
The committee got creative when the question arose of what to do about the island schools as the population of school-aged children in Glynn County continues to shift to the north part of the county and out of downtown Brunswick and St. Simons Island.
Spence said the committee is considering a plan that will allow employees of Sea Island, one of the county’s largest employers, and people who work on St. Simons Island to send their children to either Oglethorpe Point or St. Simons Elementary.
“I can see it as, if you work on St. Simons Island or for Sea Island, you can send your students to school on St. Simons Island,” Spence said. “It allows them to get to their children during the work day if they need to. That was the No. 1 thing we wanted, access for parents to elementary schools.”
He used a parent who works on Sea Island but lives in Sterling as an example. A parent who is a Sea Island employee and who must park and ride a shuttle to work has a very difficult time getting to Sterling Elementary if something comes up and they need to go to the school during the work day, Spence said.
With the right plan in place, it would help parents who may work far away from the school their children are zoned for to have better access because of proximity to their jobs, Spence said.
It would also ensure the schools on the island that would otherwise lose student population would remain operating with roughly the same enrollment as before redistricting, he added.
Spence hopes to have a plan to present to the Glynn County Board of Education later this school year, but there is no set timeline for an exact date. The new zones are set to start for the 2027 school calendar, he said.
Spence stressed that the committee is still working out all the specifics and that nothing is set in stone at this point, except that the two island schools will remain open and that all families with children who have already started at a school when the plan takes effect will have the option to stay where they are if they can provide transportation to and from school everyday.