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On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 to purchase land from the City of Washington that would go toward the completion of a new elementary school in Washington. 

Commissioners Ed Booth, Jerry Langley, Frankie Waters and Randy Walker voted in favor, but Hood Richardson, Tandy Dunn and Stan Deatherage voted against the purchase. 

For $500,000 the commissioners agreed to purchase four acres of land adjacent to Eastern Elementary School which is off John Small Avenue. The four acres will provide more space for the campus of Washington Elementary School – a new school that will combine Eastern and John Cotten Tayloe Elementary. The four acres is an addition to the current 28-acre parcel the new school will sit on. 

The price of each acre is between $100,000 and $150,000, according to the City of Washington. 

It is important to note that half of the money used to purchase the land will come from the local Board of Education. Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman said the money comes from an unbudgeted sales tax reserve. The remaining balance will come from Beaufort County.

On Friday, Jan. 10, the Board of Education met and voted to give the City of Washington two options: to either sell the land to Beaufort County or trade land with Beaufort County at equal value. 

Washington City Council met on Monday night (Jan. 13) and agreed to the two options saying either option was acceptable. The following night, the Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to vote on which option they thought was best. 

At the start of last summer, the school system learned it did not own the four acres of land adjacent to Eastern Elementary. This was a surprise considering it had maintained the land for 30 to 40 years, Cheeseman said. They learned that it actually belonged to the City of Washington. 

In July, Beaufort County Schools met with Mayor Donald Sadler, Mayor Pro-Tem Anthony Tyre and City Manager Jonathan Russell to discuss how the city could help the school system. Initial proposals included a land donation or swapping the four acres for Kugler Field. 

Though several sites were considered, Beaufort County Schools decided that if it should enter into a land swap with the City of Washington, they would trade P.S. Jones Memorial Park for the four acres.