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Aurora Mayor Clifton (Clif) Williams is looking to the Beaufort County Commissioners for help to  save S.W. Snowden Elementary School from permanent closure.

During the public comment period of the Beaufort County Commissioners regular meeting on Monday, April 7, Williams read aloud a letter he sent to Board of Education Chairman T.W. Allen five days before. Commissioners do not respond to public comments or take action during this portion of the meeting. 

Williams’ letter to Allen listed the community’s concerns about S.W. Snowden Elementary closing. On March 25, the board of education voted 7-2 to tentatively close the K-8 elementary school due to funding constraints and low enrollment. 

“We believe the March 25 decision of the school board is premature, as it has not  publicly conducted an analysis of alternatives to explore all the possibilities on how to provide a rich and rewarding education experience for our youth as opposed to hastily deciding to close SW Snowden based on BCS financial concerns only – concerns that can be mitigated with county support,” Williams said. 

Within the letter, Williams says the Town of Aurora addressed “a need to improve public education on the South side of the river” and that two out of five initiatives from the town’s 2022 strategic plan will be completed by the spring of 2026 – bringing broadband internet access to the Aurora community and the construction of Beaufort County Community College’s Workforce Development Center. 

The three other initiatives are: improving Snowden’s perception so that it can hire and retain quality educators, seeking grant and appropriations funding for capital improvement projects and support and monitoring the school district’s 2022-2027 strategic plan. 

The last initiative states, “advocate a state funding model to provide adequate, efficient, and equitable resources to rural schools suffering from economic decline. Request efforts to close the per capita student funding gap in rural areas, captured in the 2020 Local School Finance Study.” 

Part of Williams’ letter included 24 questions for the Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman to answer. Most of the questions asked about viable ways to keep Snowden open, the quality of education Snowden students receive, the quality of work environments for educators and funding sources on the local and state levels. 

The commissioners did not comment on Williams’ letter.