When school bells ring to signal the start of a new school year in Tallahatchie County next month, the bells at Strider Academy will remain eerily silent.
The private school, located on Highway 32 Central between Charleston and Webb, is closing after 47 years of operations.
Damon Stroud, president of the Strider board of directors, said the decision was made Monday night during an extraordinary third recessed annual membership meeting of Strider Academy Inc.
“At 7:31 p.m., a majority of those present at the resumed Strider Academy Inc. meeting voted to close the school,” Stroud noted in a preliminary text message to The Sun-Sentinel late Monday night.
At the newspaper’s request, Stroud sent a statement by email on Tuesday morning.
“I am sure there will be some that will celebrate and rejoice when they hear the news [about the school’s closure], but for me as well many others, it was a very sad moment when the final vote was taken,” wrote Stroud, who did not elaborate on the actual vote. “The board simply felt there was not enough support to continue attempting to operate.”
During the 2017-18 school year, Stroud said Strider, a longtime former member of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, “had a high of 109 and finished with about 60” students enrolled, kindergarten through 12th grade. The school graduated eight seniors in May.
Stroud wrote candidly about the mindset that led to the founding of the institution.
“Strider Academy, like the majority of the private schools in this state, was started as the local response to full integration of the public schools of the county that was to take place in the fall of 1971. However, again, like the majority of the private schools in this state, over time the segregation reasons gave way to educational ones,” he continued. “We have had minority students and have watched some walk across the stage and graduate.”
The private/independent school experience clearly has evolved, said Stroud, a proud member of Strider’s graduating class of 1985 — when, he said, total enrollment there exceeded 300 students.
“Our supporters wanted a place where their children could attend school in a smaller environment with an opportunity to participate in multiple extracurricular activities. It was also a place where teachers could speak and even teach about the Bible without the worry of the ACLU filing a lawsuit the next day,” he added.
Despite an increased public emphasis on the school’s “Christian-based learning environment” and program enhancements that in 2014 led Strider to earn accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, historically strong homegrown support for the small Delta farmland school located a stone’s throw from the Tallahatchie River bridge began to erode at a sometimes accelerated pace.
In many cases, students left to attend other private or public schools in the area or, in some instances, to enter home schooling.
“Unfortunately, as we continued to lose students and support, it became more and more difficult to continue each year,” explained Stroud. “We actually made it longer than a lot of people ever thought we would, but this past year saw some obstacles that became too much to overcome.”
He declined to elaborate.
“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank everyone for their support over the years and a special thanks to the students and faculty that completed this past school year in some very trying circumstances,” Stroud said.
He noted that the school board will continue to meet to begin the process of “disposing of the school’s assets and handling its liabilities.”
“Our biggest concern now is with vandalism and break-ins that have increased over the past few months,” Stroud noted. “We have increased our surveillance and have requested additional patrols from the sheriff’s department. We will seek to prosecute anyone who is caught trespassing, damaging or stealing any property of Strider Academy Inc.”
Stroud said the Strider office will be open Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily, until the end of July.
“If anyone has any business to discuss, they will need to come during this time or schedule an appointment to meet with the board,” he added.
Stroud said Strider Academy Inc. was chartered by the state on March 23, 1971, “to operate a school to be known as Strider Academy.”
According to its bylaws, the membership of Strider Academy Inc. includes faculty, parents of current students, alumni and other supporters who meet certain financial benchmarks.
The group has conducted an annual membership meeting each summer in the school library. Usually, one meeting is held to elect officers and dispense of other business for the upcoming school year.
This year’s initial meeting was held May 15. Subsequent recessed meetings were convened May 29, June 21 and, finally, July 9, with members reportedly seeking to exhaust every avenue and effort in an attempt to avoid an outcome no one wanted.
IN THE PHOTO: All is quiet in this May 23 photo of the main administration and classroom building on the campus of Strider Academy, located on Highway 32 Central between Charleston and Webb. The private school is closing after 47 years of operations in Tallahatchie County. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
