ASHEBORO – Despite the recommendation of the superintendent, The Virtual Academy at Randolph will not be closing.
At the Randolph County Schools Board of Education’s May 19 meeting, the board held a vote to close The Virtual Academy at Randolph, but due to a 3-3 split – with chair Gary Cook and members Phillip Lanier and Shannon Whitaker voting against the motion – it failed to pass.
“Just can’t do it,” Cook said. “I know it’s a business and I made this a point to a lot of people. But, for me, I couldn’t sleep tonight. I have a soft spot. I may not always be right, but I always said if I can’t follow my heart a little bit, I don’t need this job.”
The closing of The Virtual Academy had been recommended by superintendent Stephen Gainey because of the increased cost of running the school (nearly $1.3 million) without funds provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and decreasing enrollment.
“I know people aren’t happy with me for the recommendation I made,” Gainey said. “It’s not been made at anyone individually. I can promise you Stephen Gainey would never do anything to intentionally hurt a student, a teacher or a parent. But I am charged with being financially responsible with the school system.”
While the board all agreed that it wasn’t their desire to close the school, the ones who voted to close it emphasized the need to make tough decisions.
“You can’t put a price on a student and their education and we all agree with that, but we also know that the numbers are trending down,” board member Fred Burgess said. “So at what point do we make this decision?”
Board member Todd Cutler said: “Over the next two years, there’s going to be some difficult decisions to be made about our school system. It doesn’t matter if they’re remote or in a school building, there’s going to be difficult decisions that we will have to make. This is where we’re at. We’re having to fight to get dollars from the state.”
Gainey also stated that the district will have to find cuts in other places now in place of closing The Virtual Academy.
“We’re just going to have to go back to the drawing board because this will be a chunk of the cut that won’t happen now,” Gainey said.
There are slightly more than 60 students enrolled in The Virtual Academy for the 2025-26 school year.
The Randolph County Schools Board of Education will next meet June 26.
