Facility Consolidation Assessment

August 12, 2025

 Policy 6135 – School Closing Policy
The Board of Education has the power and authority pursuant to N.C.G.S. 115C-72 to consolidate
schools and close schools within its administrative unit whenever and wherever in its judgment the
consolidation will better serve the educational interests of Forsyth County and the students it serves.

● Guidelines for Determination:

○ Underutilization of site
○ Excessive operational costs – includes staffing, utilities, and maintenance

● Criteria for Determination

○ An evaluation of a building’s age, condition, capacity, operating costs, instructional
suitability, and alternative uses
○ An evaluation of the school’s site, location, student population, and support
District Overview
District Planning

Master Plan Facility Condition Capital Outlay

Assessment Plan
Preliminary Factors:

1 2 3
State of the Facility District Capacity and Program Fidelity
• Assess facility age and Enrollment • Evaluate program offerings for
condition • Review enrollment trends enrollment, fidelity, and need.
• Evaluate learning environment • Evaluate seating capacities
• Review costs to operate and • Project for future need
replace facility
8.4 M sq. ft. 1924 - 2025 240 acres

1,500 $900 M*
mow-able acres*
 0
2
4
6
8
10
12

1923
1947
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1975
1977
1979
1981
1985
1987
1989
1991
Construction Timeline

1994
1997
1999
2001
2004
2006
2009
2011
2013
2021
2025
Total
District Student Enrollment

Grade Span 22-23 23-24 24-25

K-5 22,940 22,567 22,142

6-8 12,249 11,843 11,788

9-12 16,305 16,301 15,932

PMR Month 9 Student enrolment data

 30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
55,000
60,000
1963-64
1964-65
1965-66
1966-67
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
1981-82
1982-83
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1963-2026

1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
Historical Growth

1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
WS/FCS District Overview

2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2025-26
2026
2017

50,713 -
54,558 -

38,974 - 1995
Predicted Student Enrollment Beyond 2025

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033

51,736 50,454 49,247 48,406 47,530 46,798 46,088 45,433 44,878

School Facilities Specialized, 8

High, 16

Elementary, 42

Middle, 15
Non-School Facilities

475 Corp Central Office Idlewild Warehouse

Education Building Maintenance Workshops

12th St (Hospital Homebound Maintenance Offices

The Special Service Center Local Garage

Child Nutrition Yellow Bus Garage

Whitaker Park Tech, Warehouse Bus Staging and garage

Vacant Land
Property Acreage Options
Old school, now land only. Reserved for bus lot.
5337 Old Rural Hall Road 22 Zoning not permissible. Can be surplus
Tax value – est $220,000
Adequate size for future HS on southern part of
Ebert Street 84
county
Various small parcels around Southwest ES
Holder Road 22 and West HS for school expansion and traffic
improvement
Ruxton Road 6 Adjacent to Walkertown schools for future MS

Terry & Reynolds Park Road 87 Surplus in progress

New Hope, Burke Village Ln, Liberty St 19 New Ashley Elementary

Leased Property

• Lease: $1 annual (10 years)

Whitaker Park • Operating costs: $ 60,000
• Use: Technology staff and equipment warehouse

Maintenance • Lease: $ 25,269.96 annual (10 years)

• Operating costs:$ 74,500
Offices and Local • Use: Administrative Offices for Facility staff and
Fleet Garage bays and storage to service local fleet vehicles

The Children’s
• Lease: $ 355,237.84 annual (3 years current)
Center & The • Operating costs: $317,510 annual
Special Children’s • Use: Exceptional Children Schools
School
School Condition Review
Capital Outlay Planning

● Facility Audit
○ Presented May 2023
● District developed rubric for capital request to County
○ Presented February 2024
● Pilot FCA @ Atkins HS via FMX
○ Presented September 2024
● Projected Capital Needs
○ Presented September 2024 estimation
○ Projected need for 10-year plan:: $900 M
○ Full campus rebuilds identified - 3
Facilities for Rebuild Consideration
Cook Elementary Hanes Middle Southwest
School School Elementary School
• Age:1950,1986,1999 • Age: 1960, 2000 • Age: 1956, 1962, 1997

• Sq. Ft.: 71,100 • Sq. Ft: 88,409 • Sq. Ft.: 90,853

• Replacement: $50 M • Replacement: $60M • Replacement: $50M

• Annual Op $: • Annual Op $: • Annual Op $:

$303,400 $371,080 $369,900

• Enrollment: 213 • Enrollment: 957 • Enrollment: 528

Cook Elementary PRM Month 9 data

● Choice Zone Schools ● Demographics

○ Brunson Elementary School – ○ Black – 75%
STEM ○ Hispanic – 21%
○ Meadowlark Elementary School
○ White – 3%
○ South Fork Elementary School
○ Whitaker Elementary School
● Program makeup
● Geographical: ○ Residential – 77%
○ Ashley Elementary ○ In Zone – 2%
○ Brunson Elementary (new 2026) ○ Out of Zone – 21%
○ Kimberly Park Elementary
○ Whitaker Elementary
Hanes Middle School PRM Month 9 data

● Choice Zone Schools: ● Demographics

○ East Forsyth Middle ○ Asian – 6%
○ Southeast Middle ○ Black – 19%
○ Hispanic – 43%
○ White – 27%
● Geographical: ○ Other – 5%
○ Konnoak Middle (new 2025)
○ Southeast Middle
● Program makeup
○ Residential – 50%
○ In Zone – 10%
○ Out of Zone – 40%
Southwest Elementary School PRM Month 9 data

● Choice Zone Schools: ● Demographics

○ Bolton Elementary School ○ Asian – 6%
○ Lewisville Elementary School ○ Black – 9%
○ Moore Elementary School – STEAM ○ Hispanic – 12%
○ Morgan Elementary School ○ White – 65%
● Geographical: ○ Other – 8%
○ Clemmons Elementary
○ Lewisville Elementary ● Program makeup
○ Morgan Elementary ○ Residential – 49%
○ South Fork Elementary
○ In Zone – 19%
○ Out of Zone – 31%
School Utilization
Staffing Guidance – non classroom teacher

● School administration by school:

○ State provides 12-months-of-employment (MOE) for each Principal

per school code with 100 students or 7 state paid staff.

○ State provides Assistant Principal month-of-employment (MOE) at

district level for each 99 students.

■ Example: 500 students earns 0.5 of an AP from the state.

Staffing Guidance – non classroom teacher

● Instructional Support Staff:

○ For every 450 students, the state will allot the district 2 instructional
support staff (10 MOE)

■ Examples: psychologist, social worker, counselor, nurse, librarian

media center coordinator, speech pathologist
Staffing Guidance – non classroom teacher

● Non-Instructional Support Staff:

○ State provides a general dollar amount for schools and central office.

○ The state only provides enough funds for 3 per school with our current
set up which would include data managers, finance managers,
custodians.

○ School are allotted a minimum of 7 of these employees.

Staffing Guidance – Example

EXAMPLE:
● Elementary School around 400 student enrollment:
○ Assistant Principal: $100,000
○ 3 Instructional Support Positions (Counselor, Librarian Media Center Coordinator, 0.5
Social Worker, 0.5 Instructional Facilitator) – $240,000
○ 3 Office Support Positions: $145,000
○ 3 Custodians: $145,000
○ 4 Teachers: $300,000
○ Projected Total Savings: $930,000
School Grade Span Guidance

● Facility Planning targets for new facilities:

○ K-5 – 600-800
○ 6-8 – 800-1200
○ 9-12 – approx. 1850 and up

● Impacts to Planned Capacity:

○ Classroom restrictions k-3
○ Class size buy down with Title I funds
○ Home-grown programs
○ Classrooms used for wrap around services
Schools Below Standard Capacities - Elementary
School Capacity 23-24 24-25
● 475 student enrollment to
Ashley 660 342/17 355/17
maximize state funding
Bolton 640* 342/28 359/33
and support programming Brunson 480*/600 368 348
Cook 500 232/20 213/14
● * has additional modular Diggs-Lathan 720 366/34 351/36

capacity Ibraham 560 340/34 341/36

Kimberly Park 480 278/71 278/57

● PRM Month 9 data Moore 680 440 461

North Hills 660 435/29 429/19
Old Richmond 420* 403/4 396/1
Petree 720 449/57 435/63
Smith Farm 800 423/37 408/34
Schools Below Standard Capacities - Middle

● 750 student enrollment to

School Capacity 23-24 24-25
maximize state funding
Flat Rock 900* 725 671
and support programming
Konnoak 600 366 381
Min. Springs 725* 690 694
● PRM Month 9 data
Paisley MS 900 529 381

● All data represents 6th -8th Southeast 900* 713 737

grade. Walkertown 750* 599 612

Wiley 875 782 734
WS Prep 1000 205 204
Schools Below Standard Capacities - High
School Capacity 23-24 24-25
● 1500 student enrollment
to maximize state funding Atkins 1500* 1146 1146

and support programming Carver 1200 647 650

Glenn 1900 1353 1341
● PRM Month 9 data Kennedy 500 277
Mt Tabor 1700* 1335 1360
● All data 9th grade and up North 1400* 1031 1025
Paisley 900 40 41
WS Prep 1000 152 125
Walkertown 750 617 627
Schools Below Standard Capacities – Non-Traditional

School Capacity 23-24 24-25

Carter NA 127 121
Children’s Center NA 51/46 52/38
Lowrance NA 129 133
Kingswood NA 17 14
Main St Academy NA 84 78
The Special Children’s School NA 18/94 23/80

PRM Month 9 data

Instructional Programming
● Overall evaluation needed
○ Are programs accessible?
○ Are programs aligned with Portrait of a Graduate?
○ Are programs creating Future Ready students?

● How changes in transportation impact placement of programs

● Focus on Middle and High programming

● Examples
○ Magnet themes
○ CTE pathways
○ Dual Language Immersion (DLI)
○ HAG
○ Pre K
Projected Timeline:
As Presented 7/28 to County Commissioners

● August 2025 – School Board Discussion and Review​

● September 2025 – Proposal and Public Hearing​
● October 2025 – School Board Vote​
● Fall 2026 – Possible Implementation
Staff Recommendation

● Potentially effective August 2026

○ Consolidate Cook Elementary to geographically appropriate elementary

schools

○ Consolidate Kennedy HS to Career Center with continued CTE offerings

○ Consolidate 9th - 10th grade Paisley IB program to Parkland HS

○ Surplus l Old Rural Hall Rd property

○ Surplus Old Brunson ES property

Closing Remarks

● Continue discussions for future considerations for effective date of

August 2027

● Complete a thorough review of program offerings and fidelity with a focus on

middle and high school

● Continue capital outlay planning