Initial rezoning options would balance enrollment, repurpose L.H. Williams elementary

The Bibb County Board of Education heard rezoning scenarios at its Thursday meeting, with a couple of options created to maximize enrollment and state funding.

One set of scenarios would see L.H. Williams Elementary School turned into an early learning center for the district, with elementary students redirected to nearby schools.

The proposal would increase the enrollment of neighboring elementary schools while bringing preschoolers, who don’t receive state funding, under one roof.

“I want to learn more about what that looks like, the cost to transform it from a school to a center and if we are saving any funds from doing so,” board member Sundra Woodford told The Melody.

The district identified L.H. Williams as a potential candidate for closure when exploring options to balance enrollment last year. The board ultimately decided against closing any schools and opted to explore rezoning instead.

L.H. Williams stands as a “beacon” for the Pleasant Hill community, Woodford noted, and advocates and families in the neighborhood have been vocal about keeping the school open.

The other rezoning option would shuffle enrollment across the district to reduce the number of schools with less than 450 students enrolled — that’s the state’s threshold for maximized state funding — from nine schools to seven.

Consultants reiterated that both rezoning moves “may not be long term solutions” based on declining enrollment. They told board members closing schools may be “inevitable” at a meeting back in March.

“With either scenario, we’re still going to have six to seven schools under population,” board president Daryl Morton said. “I worry … that at best we have a partial solution.”

The district is inviting members of the public to weigh in on its rezoning proposals at a town hall Monday at 5 p.m. at the Professional Learning Center on Riverside Drive. Families can also see how the different proposals might impact them using an address locator.

The school board also unanimously approved $2.7 million to extend bonuses to more of its employees after the state gave the district $5.07 million as supplemental pay for some staff members.

Full-time employees are set to receive an additional $2,000, while qualifying part-time employees could receive $1,000.

Woodford said she wanted all staff to benefit from the bonuses, and it is a step toward making the district’s salaries more competitive with neighboring school systems. 

“When there is an opportunity to show our support which affects morale, retention to some degree, I am all in,” she said.

The board also approved several other items.

• Board members accepted a financial audit conducted for the 2025 school year. The district received a clean unmodified opinion, the “highest level” CPAs can give, Chief Financial Officer Eric Bush said.
• The school board approved a sale of Barden Elementary School to the Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council. EOC is already using the old school as a Head Start Center for the state’s pre-kindergarten program.
• The board also unanimously denied a charter school petition from the Infinity Academy, its third attempt submitted to the school district.