Rowan-Salisbury School System
The Rowan-Salisbury School System (also called Rowan-Salisbury Schools or for short RSS) is a PK–12 graded school district in North Carolina covering nearly all of Rowan County including the city of Salisbury. The second largest employer in the county, the system's 35 schools serve 20,000 students as of 2013–2014. Salisbury split off from the original county-wide system in 1921, but merged back into the county system in 1989. Josh Wagner chairs the seven-member Board of Education while Dr. Tony Watlington serves as the sixth superintendent of the combined system. The system  has won several awards, including two statewide Teachers of the Year and two Blue Ribbon schools. History. The history of public education in Rowan County began shortly after the state passed its first common school law in 1839. The state was then divided into several school districts. District number 22 (called the Setzer School District) covered Rowan County and was based in the Setzer School, a one-room log school built in 1840s just east of China Grove. The first public schools in Rowan were established in 1847. Several citizens interested in education met and formed the Board of Superintendents  of Common Schools of Rowan County on May 8, 1847. They elected Hamilton C. Jones as their first chairman. That year, they worked to hire teachers, choose/elect superintendents and divide the county into 47 school districts. Rowan County public schools. Educational progress happened more rapidly in the city of Salisbury than in the rest of the county. While Salisbury's schools grew, schools in the rest of Rowan County lagged far behind. After the city school system split off, the difference became more noticeable as a report from John H. Cook from the North Carolina College for Women (now , University of North Carolina at Greensboro) around 1924 called the county's schools the worst in North Carolina. At the time, the county only had 36 schools many of which were only one or two room buildings. Cook devised a plan for school improvement and new school construction which the county commissioners and the citizens promptly adopted in 1924. Soon thereafter, a school construction boom created 18 schools with at least eight rooms each. Racial desegregation became a tough issue for many in the Rowan County Schools system. The separate Black schools were phased out, but many opposed to racial  integration still put up a fight. This was aggravated by a strong Klan presence in the area. Notable incidents included 12 people arrested in 1967, including Rowan County's Registrar of Deeds, for threats, shootings, and bombings; as well as student protests over the playing of the song "Dixie" at school football games at integrated South Rowan High School. . Salisbury city schools. When the Board of Superintendents set up the county school districts, the town of Salisbury fell into district 27. In 1847, monies apportioned to operate the school in the district totaled $221. The first teachers of the  district were Susan Giles and Eleanor Fulton. This Salisbury Graded School District was centered on the school and offices on Ellis Street. Later the area would become known as the Ellis Street Graded School District. The Salisbury Graded School had grown much from its origins and the city build a high school separate from the other grades in 1904. This was the second high school built in North Carolina after Wilmington. Prior to the establishment of Salisbury City Schools, the school district fell under control of the county school system. The district was managed jointly by the City of Salisbury  and the district's Board of Trustees. Salisbury City Schools brgan as a separate system on March 3, 1921, when the North Carolina General Assembly adopted the law that allowed a separate Board of Education to run the system. Several schools were built over next few years, including the Wiley School, Boyden High School and Price High School. The Calvin H. Wiley School, built 1916–18, was expanded in 1921. It was used as a school building until 1983 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Another prominent school built in 1926, was Boyden High School, named  for Archibald Henderson Boyden, an educator who was then Mayor of Salisbury. J.C. Price High School was an African American school that served students in the system from 1932 until 1969 when it was integrated into Boyden High School, which then became Salisbury High School in 1970. The Boyden High School site and the Price High School site are also on the NRHP. Merger. The current Rowan-Salisbury School System was formed in 1989 by the merger of Rowan County Schools and Salisbury City Schools. The process leading up to the merger was difficult and almost not approved several times . Declining enrollment in the city and county systems (especially the city system) and a general move towards "white flight" from the more urban and minority-heavy city schools had prompted discussions of merging the systems. At issue in the merger talks primarily was redistricting and racial balance in the schools. However, the separate city and county school boards approved a merger plan on October 16, 1987. This was soon approved by the Rowan County Commission and the State Board of Education. Adding to the stresses of the merger process, a red measles outbreak in 1989 limited school activities and athletics  in Rowan and Cabarrus counties for several weeks. Since the merger, the system has become the second-largest employer in Rowan County. In 2006, the school board made headlines when students at South Rowan High School started up a gay–straight alliance club at their school. In response to public complaint, led by Flip Benham of Operation Save America from neighboring Cabarrus county, the Board of Education adopted a policy banning "sex-based student clubs" at all schools in the system. The combined system handled around 16,000 students in 1990. Even decades after the merger consolidated the systems, the school  district had no central office, instead spreading administrative tasks over five office locations across Rowan County. The move towards a central office for the system has been contentious in the county. Disagreements between the county commission and the school board delayed finalizing plans and construction. The Salisbury City Council even agreed to help fund construction of a central office. The Wallace Education Forum officially opened March 14, 2016 in the 500 block of North Main Street, on land from Leo and Mona Wallace.<ref>