2 Augusta schools closing; district keeps traditional calendar

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The future of A. Brian Merry Elementary School and Spirit Creek Middle School was up in the air on Tuesday.

The Richmond County Board of Education voted to close these two schools as part of the master plan during Tuesday’s meeting at 6 p.m.

Over the course of six meetings, the school system and consulting group went to the schools impacted by this plan.

“We heard a lot from our parents and our community leaders. As opposed to just having the two meetings that are required, we had six public hearings, so that we can make sure that we heard clearly from our stakeholders before making a recommendation,” said Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw, superintendent of Richmond County.

Now, some schools will close but some will open.

Belair Middle School and Richmond Hill Elementary School will open to those students from the current Richmond Hill and Belair K-8 schools.

Tutt And Langford middle schools would combine to help expedite construction at the new Langford Middle School, which looks to open in 2027.

Now, the district will look to make sure students and teachers will be in the right place next year.

“Make sure there’s a smooth transition. We want to make sure that the process goes smoothly, and that as we look down the road with any future plans, we learn all the lessons from the previous year,” said Bradshaw.

It will now give more resources to the schools that will stay open.

“Anytime you’re able to offer more opportunities to give our students a better chance to compete. At an early age, kids have different interests. And you want to expose them to as many opportunities as possible. So, by providing new experiences for our students, that’s always the goal as an educator,” said Bradshaw.

Another item that was voted on is how the calendar in 2025-26 will look.

The board decided on the more traditional option, which will keep the calendar the same with a 10-week summer.

“They (those who filled out the survey) shared that right now the traditional is the option of choice. So we’ll go back and continue to gather information, but our goal is always to be innovative and provide ideas we can improve the academic performance of our students and maybe even improve the morale of our teachers,” said Bradshaw.

The other option was to have a modified calendar to have students start at the end of July with a 7.5-week summer with long breaks in October and three more days added to spring break.

To see where your student will be going to school next year, click here.

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