A group of students from the Performance Learning Center plan to present a petition at tonight’s Bulloch County Board of Education meeting, requesting the Center remain at its current location.
    Bulloch County school superintendent Dr. Lewis Holloway said Wednesday he will propose to school board members that the Center’s 83 students and five faculty members be moved from the wing at the William James Educational Complex that houses the PLC. The students and faculty would be returned to their home schools, he said.
    Holloway said returning the students to Statesboro, Southeast Bulloch and Portal High Schools would save the system $186,000 and offer a more well-rounded education and school experience to the students.
     All faculty and the school administrator will keep their jobs in the school system, he said.  
    “Essentially, we’ll have a mini-PLC in each school,” Holloway said. “Each school will have a separate area for students and they will receive the same one-on-one instruction they are used to.”
    Students brought a copy of the petition to the Statesboro Herald Wednesday.
    The petition reads: " ... We, the student body of the PLC have been advised that the PLC (Performance Learning Center) will be moved into public schools.
    “We, as the student body, would like to address the situation. The student body/parents disagree on this matter!"
    Reasons listed on the petition include the current PLC offers "a better environment and ...  provides a less chaotic atmosphere for learning; offers students expecting children or who have children already a better chance of getting an education and finishing their credits;" and offers a smaller, more cloistered learning environment that encourages students to avoid dropping out.
    The petition ends with "In our best interest, we believe that keeping the PLC building is the best alternative for the students, instead of being moved out into their home school."
    There were about 70 signatures on the petition.
    The PLC was founded in 2003 to offer a nontraditional, business-like learning environment to students who do not reach their educational potential in a traditional school environment.
    Bulloch County Schools spokesperson Hayley Greene said the move would allow PLC students to have easy access to all electives offered at the high schools.
    Tonight’s school board meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Office Board Room of the William James Complex.
     (James Healy contributed to this report.)