Nonprofit Mississippi News ROSEDALE – Years of declining enrollment and financial strain culminated Monday night when West Bolivar Consolidated Schools District closed one of its schools to save money. The school district is made up of Rosedale, Shaw, and Benoit. Benoit, which is the smallest of the three towns, will lose Ray Brooks, its elementary, middle, and high school students. For the 2020-21 school years, students who attended Benoit will be going to Shaw or Rosedale. “I am really, really hurt. Benoit will lose everything. Ruby Miller, a member of the Benoit school board, stated that there won’t be a school. Miller stated, “I have been fighting this battle against (the school board members) since a long time.” The five-member board includes two Shaw representatives, two Rosedale representatives, and one Benoit representative. Jackie Lloyd, who is also Rosedale’s school board president, voted against Ray Brooks. “I didn’t want the Benoit region to lose everything, and with this option they lost everything. Each area should be able to continue with one school. It is a fact that once a school closes in a community, the entire town falls apart. Lloyd stated that people move away and never return. The district will now consolidate from six to four schools. The Rosedale high school will be closing along with Ray Brooks. The Rosedale middle school will house the seventh through 12th grade Rosedale students. Rosedale elementary will house the remainder of the students. Rosedale will also be home to a vocational school. Shaw students currently live in the same building. This will not change. Lloyd stated that the Benoit students’ earliest bus will pick them up at 6:15 am. The trip takes approximately 40 minutes. There have been rumors for years about the possibility of closing West Bolivar Consolidated Schools District’s school. But they never went any further. Shaw, Benoit, and Rosedale were all once separate school districts. However, the state Legislature in 2012 passed a bill forcing them into consolidation. This bill also forced Mound Bayou and North Bolivar School districts (which served Shelby) into one entity, the North Bolivar Consolidated Schools District. Since the forced consolidations, neither of these districts have been spared from turmoil. Both these districts are currently experiencing the common rural dilemma, which is outmigration. This has led to declining enrollments and consequently lower funding. Ray Brooks has 161 students in its kindergarten-12th grades. There are 20 students in the largest grade. Benoit, which is located about 20 miles west from Cleveland, is the nearest larger town in the area. Census data shows that Benoit is home to approximately 477 residents. “Our district runs almost exactly like three distinct districts. Our schools still have staff and operate as if they were serving 2,500 students across the entire district. This is not true. At the moment, we serve just over 1100 students in six schools,” John Taylor, superintendent, stated at a Benoit community meeting. Every year, we lose a little more students, we spend more and we lose more money than the previous year. Taylor stated that each year we started in a deeper hole than the previous year. Taylor argued that if the district didn’t take responsibility for consolidating schools, they could be subject to a state takeover due to mismanaged finances. Taylor presented three options to the school board and community for merging schools. Ray Brooks is the largest and most recent school building in the district. All high school students would have been able to attend one campus, which would have allowed for better course selections and a greater concentration of teachers who are certified. Benoit, however, is more remote and doesn’t have the resources of emergency responders like firefighters, police officers, or ambulances. Ray Brooks’ closure would also have a minimal impact on the number of children. With Lloyd and Miller voting against, the school board voted in favor of option 3. After the vote, Taylor stated that either of the options was better than the current situation. “I’m ready for the next phase. “I’m happy that (the school board made a decision. Now we can move on to the next phase.”