N.C. school to be reopened for use in Pre-K program

An elementary school closed in 2007 as part of a plan to settle a desegregation case will reopen this fall.

The former Askewville Elementary School will now cater to younger students as Bertie County's second center for the More at Four/Pre-K programs.

All Bertie County children who will be 4 years old on or before Aug. 31 and live within district lines are eligible to attend at no cost.

The Askewville school will be the second Bertie County program, joining the former C.G. White Middle School location, which opened for the previous school year.

"We're trying to alleviate a long bus trip for little kids," said Brent Todd, Bertie County Schools spokesman.

Askewville was one of two elementary schools that closed as part of a settlement of a desegregation case that began in 1967 and reignited in 2001. The closing of Askewville and J.P. Law elementary schools was a sore point in the community, where a group made up of black and white residents and parents and non parents said the issue was not about race anymore but about saving high-performing schools.

Despite their efforts, the consent order was submitted with the blessing of both the county school board and the U.S. Department of Justice and approved by a U.S. district judge in March 2006.

Both schools were closed at the end of the 2006-07 year.

Since closing, J.P. Law Elementary School was vandalized, Todd said.

The vandals removed copper and even took a transformer.

"There's a lot of repair work now before it could be reused," Todd said.

However, the gymnasium is still in good shape, and he said school officials hope to partner with the YMCA to use the facility for organized sports in the coming school year.

That's still in the planning stages.

With the opening of a second More at Four/Pre-K program center at the former Askewville Elementary School, Bertie County Schools will double its available slots to about 120.

"We're really recruiting kids now," Todd said. "This will be open to any children in the county. We want diversity."

Children served by More at Four have a full school day during the school year to help prepare them for the classroom environment.

The community-based state program is administered in public school classrooms, licensed child care centers or Head Start programs.

Parents of eligible students are urged to complete an application for the program, which will begin Aug. 31.

Applications are available at the school's central office at 222 County Farm Road in Windsor or on the Bertie County Schools Web site: www.bertie.k12.nc.us/home.aspx.

Lauren King, (252) 338-2413, lauren.king@pilotonline.com