What Will Middle School Be Called?

The district's building program calls for the conversion of the former Easley High School site into a middle school.

Last year, the school board voted to name the new middle school after J.C. Brice.

The building program was modified to allow for two middle schools in Easley – Brice Middle School and the existing Gettys Middle School.

But last month, citing a shortage of building funds, board members opted to abandon plans to renovate Gettys as part of the program, which would leave Brice Middle School, when opened, as the Easley middle school.

But the school may not be named after J.C. Brice after all.

At a public meeting to discuss the board's decision and the middle school situation in Easley, board chair Judy Edwards said the middle school at the former high school site would be called Gettys Middle School.

“We have named it Gettys, because we felt like if everybody was going to that campus, that it needed to stay Gettys,” Edwards said. “I have talked to the Brice family and Dr. Brice was very gracious and said he understood. There is a motion to rename a wing after Dr. Brice. But it will remain Gettys.

“We have uniforms, we have letterheads, we have lots of things that are already Gettys,” Edwards said. “Why redo all of them?”

Since the change in plans regarding Easley's middle schools was announced, many have asked how that would effect the principals of the schools.

Earlier this year, the district announced that Gettys Middle School principal Mike Cory would lead Brice Middle School and that Reggia Stapleton, Simpson Academy Director, would replace Cory as principal at Gettys.

At the meeting, Tommy Graham asked what been done regarding the positions.

“Those positions are contingent upon their being two schools,” he said. “I think we need to do everything we can do, if we have one school, to make sure Mike Cory is our principal.”

Edwards said that Cory would be principal of the school at the former high school site.

“Reggia will not be put aside,” she said. “Mike Cory will be principal. Reggia will be in a principal position of some type next year, because she has already signed a contract. We are working with Reggia. She will have a job. She may be co-principal, she may be somewhere else. We don't know yet.”