GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Grimsley community pushed Guilford County Schools board members for answers over its plan to rebuild a school over the high school's baseball and softball fields.
The GCS board plans to move forward with a construction project that would place Kiser Middle School where two of Grimsley's athletic fields currently sit. Kiser is one of the eight schools being rebuilt with the $300 million bond approved in 2020. Architects said in March that the only feasible location for it is on the Grimsley fields.
Parents and students from the high school met with board members Saturday to demand answers for the future of their athletic fields. Organizers said in an Instagram post that they want to see an option presented that doesn't result in any students getting displaced.
"This for the students that are still here and the students that are going to be coming up here," one of the participants said.
Brandy Adams, Grimsley parent, and athletic booster club president said, "we are still left with lots of questions like where will our athlete's practice and play there is no plan when will our fields be rebuilt there is no money and there’s just way too many questions on if they do find a location for us to practice and play we don’t even know how our student-athletes will get there."
School board member Pat Tillman says he's working on a way to make the transition easier including selling unused property to begin accumulating money to rebuild fields.
"[GCS board member] Deborah [Napper] and I put us in this box, know that," Tillman said. "We're going to help get out of it."
Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2022, and officials said it could take until 2025 to build new fields.
GCS officials said they are working on a shared-use agreement with the Greensboro Parks and Recreation department but have not nailed down the details.