ACE proposal shot down by Jasper County school board
The Jasper County school board quashed plans to close and sell its joint technical school with Beaufort County last week until it has fully assessed the needs of its students.
The board voted Dec. 10 to reject a transition team's proposal to close Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career Excellence following the 2016-2017 school year and sell the property, likely to the Technical College of the Lowcountry.
While the Beaufort County school board supported that plan -- which would shore up more money for the district to spend on its in-house career- and technology-education programs -- the Jasper County board says closing ACE is not in the best interest of its students.
Some would not qualify for TCL's college-level courses and would be left with no options in the district to work toward certification in their field of choice, from welding to automotive technology.
The Jasper County board also voted to re-start conversations with Beaufort County about the future of ACE, though Beaufort County school board chair Mary Cordray said she had not heard from them as of Wednesday morning.
Simultaneously, the Jasper County board is taking stock of its students' needs and its available facilities to determine exactly what career- and technology- educate programs it wants to offer down the road, with or without ACE.
Reached Wednesday, board vice-chair Debora Butler said it's too soon to say when Jasper County will be able to provide its own technical courses or what they will look like.
"The board unfortunately did not take the planning steps needed early in this entire series of events and so we're going to be playing a little bit of catch-up and we're going to have to work very fast and furious to get to where we need to be," Butler said. "I don't think we even have that information available to us yet."
Jasper County's rejection came about a week after it heard a presentation by TCL president Richard Gough, who has said he would like to take over ACE and offer dual-enrollment and remediation courses, as well as night and weekend hours for adult students.
Gough told the board it would still need to contribute $1 million to the school each year, according to board minutes.
Butler said in her opinion, a lack of money for that proposal was not as concerning as the potential to leave some students behind.
Local NAACP chapters have also argued the loss of ACE would mainly set back minority students.
"We have to have a comprehensive program that addresses all the children," she said.
Jasper County puzzles over ACE at the same time as it copes with the resignation of superintendent Vashti Washington, prompted by low performance scores, lawsuits and a federal investigation into the district.
As part of an agreement the board approved Dec. 10, Washington will step down at the end of the month, but will continue to receive her $165,000 salary and serve as a consultant through 2016.
Butler said the board has not chosen an interim superintendent.
Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
Related content:
- Jasper County School District superintendent resigns, December 11, 2015
- Beaufort County school board offers to support ACE one more year, November 6, 2015
- Beaufort County school board stresses support for ACE at special meeting, October 5, 2015
This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 11:00 AM with the headline "ACE proposal shot down by Jasper County school board."