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There was a high level of anxiety and anger on Thursday evening as the Beaufort County Board of Education held its second public forum to hear concerns and answer questions regarding the proposed closing of S.W. Snowden Elementary School in Aurora. 

With a final decision expected on June 3 over the fate of the school, over 100 residents, including Aurora Mayor Clif Williams, were in attendance. 

“I have been working for the last 16 years to grow my community,” said Williams. “I’m on the thrust of taking off with the industrial park. Things are finally moving in a positive direction as I have a new contractor coming on board as of today, and another about to sign. On June 19, we are having the groundbreaking for the new Beaufort County Community College facility that will be located in the Aurora Industrial Park. But if you want to kill a community, kill the school. If you kill my school, then you kill everything I’ve been working for. This is about our children. Look into your heart, look to save my community, and look at educating my children in Aurora.”

Several residents were critical of the fact that the meeting was being held at Southside High School rather than in Aurora. 

“Three hundred people came out for the meeting held in Aurora, and you hid in the crowd,” said Adam from Aurora. “But you decided to have a meeting here at Southside, so the poor people of Aurora couldn’t get over here. You ought not to be proud of yourselves. You are doing wrong, and you know you are doing wrong. You represent all of these people who just raised their hands, indicating they don’t want this school closed. Wake up!”

There have also been concerns raised about transportation and the safety of the children. Frank Rubin’s wife is a school bus driver. “As it is now, the children spend an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon just to go to Snowden,” said Rubin. “She’s been told it could take up to two-and-a-half hours each way to get them to Chocowinity. There is no reason kids should have to be on a school bus four to five hours per day.”

Added resident Stan Rainer, “Long bus rides impair the ability of small children to learn. They will be worn out by the time they get to school, and that will directly impact the education of our children.”

Declining numbers at Snowden have also been cited as one of the reasons the school board voted 7-2 on March 25 to tentatively close it. Aurora resident and business owner, Travis Midgette, indicated, not so fast. “The rights of our 119 kids should be equal to the rights of all of the other kids who attend school in Beaufort County. Attendance at every school in the county has fallen, according to the handout we were given at the last forum. Some are at half capacity, so why are you picking Snowden? We go through this every two to three years. How are parents going to trust having their kids at a school with the thought that it might be shutting down? They are tired of going through this and have lost confidence, and they are leaving. We’ve got a problem here, and it is not being addressed. We have been hoodwinked.”

As the board attentively listened, the general consensus at the end was the same as it has been all along, that none of them were in favor of closing the school, but there are tough decisions that have to be made moving forward. “No one here is trying to do anything negative to Snowden,” said Terry William, vice chair of the board. “Snowden has been afforded all of the same benefits as any other school in the county. We are sworn to do our best for all of our kids, and no one here is out to hurt you.”

Board members Charles Hickman and Stacey Davis, the two declining votes in the first vote, feel they still need more information before moving forward with their decisions. According to state statute 115C-72 the board has to do a study of this school, and primarily keep in mind the welfare of the students being affected, in addition to geographic conditions, anticipated increase or decrease in enrollment, inconvenience or hardship to affected students, the cost of providing additional facilities, and other germane factors. “What we have not looked at to my satisfaction is the geographic conditions, which is odd,” said Hickman. “Southeastern Beaufort County is pretty unique and is isolated in a lot of ways by land and water. The geographic conditions need to be studied hard, and we have not done that. I don’t believe we have given enough consideration to the inconvenience or hardship to the students, which are huge factors. I’ve yet to see a cost analysis in any form regarding the cost of providing additional facilities. This community is so dependent on this school. It is crucially important to Richland Township. By getting this wrong, we could do a lot to destroy this community.”

Added Davis, “I see a pattern that is coming down from the federal government and then down to the states, and is going to ask us to close our schools for these very reasons. Our superintendent is not, not doing his job and has been put in a very serious situation. With North Carolina Department of Public Instruction regulations (NCDPI), he has every right to ask that this school be closed. But those opposed have every right to try and fix the problem. I agree that there has not been full transparency available to the public. I’m going to ask that the June 3 date for the final decision be pushed back. There are reports and feasibility studies that should be provided so we know the impact it is going to have on our community. It is up to the community to come and work together for a solution. Instead of trying to find a way to close Snowden, we need to be trying to find a way to keep it open.”

Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman said it is now up to the board if they want to push back the June 3 date or proceed as currently scheduled. 

“The board decides on the timeline,” said Cheeseman. “The biggest thing is our fiscal year ends June 30, and we are starting to see the back end of the wall showing up. If the decision were delayed, it would only be for a short amount of time. If the board decides to keep Snowden open, it will have to make other fiscal decisions, such as personal cutbacks. If they decide to close it, they will need to work with the Department of Public Instruction to ensure funding properly goes to other schools and make sure plans are in place for the transfer of students. So the window is very tight.”

Should Snowden be closed, students who do not transfer to either a charter or private school will be moved to Chocowinity Primary School or Chocowinity Middle School. Students also have the option to request a transfer to another school within the Beaufort County school district.

If the Board of Education votes in favor of closing Snowden, the school would close before the 2025-2026 academic year.