While the Forsyth County Schools district continues to battle debt issues stemming from financial mismanagement and overspending, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school leaders have conducted a vote and passed a resolution to shut down Cook Elementary School. The facility has 186 students, and this decision will leave them with no choice but to transfer to other schools.
Cook has struggled with enrollment over the past year, making it a candidate for the shutdown. Cook’s enrollment has dropped from 213 students to 189 in the 2024-2025 school year. The closing will save the district $300,000 in annual operational costs and $900,000 in non-teaching staff costs. Low student enrollment and an outdated building are the main reasons leading to this school being chosen for shutdown. The school only fills 37% of its 500 maximum capacity of students, and remodeling would result in spending $50 million by 2029 and 2030 to fix outdated structures.
Principals from other local schools had given their feedback on problems with the WS/FCS Board of Education. They feel as if they are tasked with doing a lot with only a little to work with.
“We have been left to hold together what others have broken apart, patching the cracks in a structure that should never have been allowed to fracture in the first place,” Principal of Gibson Elementary, Celina Tribby said.
Principals across the county feel like they do not have enough to work with due to the lack of funding and what it has caused. The pressure on them rises as they have to make changes to the schools, causing disappointment,
“We are being asked to do so much more with so much less, as we have lost many valuable employees and resources on our campuses since this began,” Principal of Wiley Magnet Middle School, Colin Tribby said.
Principals have expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the WS/FCS schools and request better, long-term solutions to existing problems. They feel short term solutions are not working now as is and feel like the decisions are undermining cut staff.
“I ask you not to make any more cuts … Consider your people because a structure that does not value their people cannot stand,” Tribby said.
The vote was to close Cook Elementary’s doors in June 2026. New residential boundaries were redrawn, directing the students to a nearby school, Kimberley Park Elementary School, along with possible other schools such as Ashley and Brunson Elementary. Within the next month, parents will be informed of which schools their children will attend.
