Berkeley Co. school board moves forward with J.K. Gourdin Elementary School merger

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)—When the school year begins in August, students at a northern Berkeley County elementary school will attend a different school.

At a Monday night Berkeley County School Board meeting, committee members decided to proceed on the merger with St. Stephen Elementary School.

Initially, the board voted to close J.K. Gourdin and move the students to St. Stephan in an effort to save the district $1.5 million when they passed the county school budget in June.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, parents, teachers, and others shared concerns about the merger and the timing of the board’s decision to announce it.

“As a voter observing your actions, I do not believe you acted within the spirit of anything to deal with transparency, respect, or due process,” one audience member said.

“I’m a parent of two kids who go to JK Gourdin, and they’ve done nothing but excel,” a parent said.

Others said J.K. Gourdin students have not performed as well academically as St. Stephen students. During the finance and human resources committee, board member Dr. Crystal Wigfall motioned to delay the merger by at least a year.

“I’m here to make a motion to before the committee to request a postponement of JK Gordon Elementary school and Saint Steven elementary school merger,” Dr. Wigfall expressed. “At least until the 2026 school year.”

That committee has only three members, and neither of the other two members seconded the motion, so it died in committee without discussion or vote.

“The board should’ve taken that as an opportunity to discuss the importance of their timeline,” said Kathleen Low, Berkeley County Education Association President.

Berkeley County’s State Rep. Joe Jefferson (D) said the community will unite to assist all those affected by this merger.

“We’re going to do as best we can. We probably need to go out and get an attorney now to help us out,” Jefferson said.  “But if all else fails, we need to do what we need to do as a community and will come together and try to decide our next concern, of course, is what’s going to become of the school.”