Robert W. Groves High School in Garden City is overcrowded.
Official Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) enrollment numbers were released this week. Groves topped out at 1,229 students, which is more than the building can comfortably ― and safely ― accommodate. School officials cite three key factors as to why the enrollment situation snowballed:
- Increased enrollment in SCCPSS’s English Speakers of Other Languages Program (ESOL)
- Increased enrollment in number of students zoned for Groves High School
- Delay in the multi-campus K-12 complex at the Gould-Mercer-Groves mega site
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School Choice Students Not Affected
The Groves student relocation was not broadly announced until 7:30 p.m., Aug. 25, when families and staff received an email from Principal Monique Hazzard-Robinson. The Rebel Nation Announcement message stated, among other concerns, that “we have been working on a plan that will return 187 students to their neighborhood schools.”
The message explained that the increase in the student population has led the building to be “over-utilized.” Hazzard-Robinson mentioned only that “After Labor Day, the identified students will be transferred back to their home schools.” The assumption from the messaging was that SCCPSS would be returning some School Choice students to their neighborhood schools.
Deputy Superintendent Bernadette Ball-Oliver clarified Monday afternoon that the move was part of a planned relocation of ESOL students originally set for the 2024-25 academic school year. She confirmed that School Choice Program students would not be relocated. “If someone was in the specialty programs at Groves, they would have the option to stay because they attended for a different reason.”
Hazzard-Robinson’s email assured that affected families, “have received communication on this matter and we look forward to working with them to ensure a smooth transition.” According to the message, the Fire Marshall had also conducted a full safety check and Groves remained clear for continued operation.
Anticipated Growth, Unanticipated Timeline
Ball-Oliver explained that school leaders had anticipated the need to provide more ESOL program access across the district. Part of SCCPSS’s Literacy Taskforce’s recommendations was to revisit the ESOL program. When they did, she said, they realized they needed “to expand the services that we provide to those students because we've had a huge increase since the last time we may have revisited the program.”
What leaders did not anticipate was how soon that expansion needed to occur. A large part of the timing issue could be attributed to the unfinished construction of the new complex, which has dealt with supply-chain delays over the last two years.
Based on the Literacy Taskforce recommendations, the board had previously approved funds to hire more educators with ESOL capabilities as well use current teachers who teach at other schools and who possess ESOL certification. Ball-Oliver said that when initial enrollment numbers came into focus around day five of this school year, district leaders realized, “We need to go ahead and move [the students] this year.”
She indicated the planned shift of ESOL access was to happen in phases starting at the high school level. “The goal was to move them and return them to their zone schools, and start with high school because we have fewer than we do elementary and middle schools, and then this [situation] expedited the move because of the capacity issues.”
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ESOL Teaching Positions Remain Open
Ball-Oliver admitted that the high school principals are still in the process of hiring more ESOL instructors, “but there are enough now to relocate the Groves students.” She stated that the neighborhood high schools have identified persons who are certified on their staff, but must also fill those individual’s vacancies. The open positions further spotlight the ongoing teacher shortage that the district is facing.
Ball-Oliver felt it important to note that the services are fully available at the neighborhood schools. The district sees the move as a positive because it means students who might not have been zoned for Groves can now go to the school closer to where they live. She also said, “The other part…is that we do a push-in model. Meaning, some of their Math, English, Science and Social Studies teachers may actually have the ESL endorsem*nt, but then in some classes, we also send an additional instructor that has that ESL endorsem*nt to support.”
Savannah Morning News will continue to follow this story as affected students transition to their neighborhood schools on Sept. 5.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at jschwartzburt@gannett.com.
