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Granville County Public Schools could close two elementary schools, CG Credle and Wilton.
District staff studied the potential impacts and shared them with the school board on Tuesday. Parents expressed frustration and anger.
Wilton Elementary School
“We were not expecting Wilton to be on the chopping block,” said Liz Gallops, the communications chair of the school’s parent-teacher organization.
“The teachers know [the students] and see them grow up through the years. I definitely don’t want my child to have to go to multiple schools,” parent Amanda Taylor said. “Maybe this year it’s Wilton, then they get transferred in next year, it’s another one.”
Wilton has had fluctuating enrollment since 2019. It went from 280 students to 227 in 2021, to 322 in 2025.
The school is also designated as a Choice School. That means families can choose to attend, even if it’s not their assigned neighborhood school. The district reports that 93 students go to the school by choice.
Parents told WRAL they especially appreciate Wilton’s Leader in Me program. It equips students with leadership habits, like responsibility and goal-setting. The school boasts the prestigious title of “Leader in Me Lighthouse.”
The school would lose its Lighthouse status, but the Leader in Me program could be implemented at another school, according to district staff.
The Wilton PTO started a change.org petition. The goal is to convince the school board not to go through with the closure.
Students “could be reassigned to the existing southern-end elementary schools,” according to district documents.
The district says it could save some money on transportation, but does not specify how much. Ride times could increase.
Based on district estimates, about $598,443 could be saved each year by closing the school.
Ashley Santillo said her son and his friends don’t want to see their school go.
“They’re writing ‘save Wilton’ with chalk…They’re making signs to put with the pumpkins in front of the school,” she said.
CG Credle Elementary School
The district is also studying a potential closure of CG Credle Elementary School. District staff say the closure could save the district $765,637 annually.
According to district documents, enrollment went from 359 in 2019 to 306 in 2025.
“We’re also facing a situation where the number of school-aged children in our county is declining over time, even though the total population is going up,” Winborne said.
Those students would be transferred to Stovall-Shaw Elementary and West Oxford Elementary.
“In a larger school setting, students could potentially benefit from more resources to support their learning,” the document said.
“The number that would be required at each school would depend on how the attendance zones were laid out, but it is almost certain that you would have to use [mobile classrooms] at one or both schools,” Currin said.
The district acknowledges that moving students to another school would increase route lengths and transportation costs.
The trend of closing schools
The district blamed past closures on the growing interest in charter schools.
“When you close a school, you create that instability, which then creates the flight out of the public school systems and into charters or online schools, or leaving the county,” Gallup said.
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