Excel Academy staff and families raise security, space and transportation concerns over Mount Zion relocation

Staff representing the Excel Academy addressed the Bedford Board on Dec. 18, outlining multiple concerns with the program’s temporary location at Mount Zion.

Miss Myers said Excel was given six classrooms for nine teachers and support staff, creating crowded classrooms and shared office space that provides no privacy for counseling or nursing needs. She said classrooms lack locking doors and classroom keys, making a lockdown “impossible” and leaving staff to move belongings weekly when the church uses space on weekends. She also said transportation arrangements required students to walk to the high school for shuttle pickup, leaving them unsupervised for parts of the day, and that some families had moved students to virtual learning because of the conditions.

Superintendent Doctor Johnson and district staff responded that keeping the Mount Zion site preserves program seats and state funding. Treasurer Taylor estimated that maintaining six classrooms with roughly 20 students each preserves about $720,000 in state funding the district would otherwise lose if students were placed outside the district. Johnson and other administrators described staffing (two security officers, dedicated teachers) and plans to provide locked storage and address access concerns; they asked Excel staff to submit specific issues so the administration could follow up.

Board members asked for specifics and noted the district had tried to balance fiscal realities with program needs. The transcript records a request from staff and parents to prioritize safety and space; district leaders said they would review operations and transportation routing and that some concerns (keys, locks, and staffing) are being addressed.

The district did not provide an implementation timeline for all requested fixes during the Dec. 18 meeting but said it would continue discussions and review options to secure the facility.