Twiggs County Public Schools to erect monument at former school

The Twiggs County Board of Education says they’re working with an organization to install a memorial at a former Twiggs County school.

According to Interim Superintendent Tyrone Bacon, the purpose of the monument is to honor the former students and staff who walked the halls of Jeffersonville High School some 70 years ago.

Jeffersonville High School, located at 323 Bullard Road, was once an all Black school. During integration in the ‘50s, multiple schools in the area merged to form Twiggs County High School, and the old school was closed down.

Around five years ago, some alumni of the old Jeffersonville school approached the district about installing a monument to honor its memory.

The project would be funded by the Mellon Foundation, a privately-funded organization based in New York, that funds historical monuments across the United States through its Monuments Project.

According to its website, the Mellon Foundation created the Monuments Project in 2020 to “bring communities together and breathe new life into our nation’s commemorative landscape.”

“When this started about five years ago, it was a very ambitious project,” said Bacon. “Thus far, they have raised all the money, in excess of $60,000 to do this monument at the old Jeffersonville school.”

In October, the school board approved an agreement between the Mellon Foundation and school district, agreeing to temporarily relinquish the property to the foundation while they construct the memorial. 

The terms of the agreement state that the Mellon Foundation will be responsible for completing the design, construction and installation of the project at the board’s approval. They will also be responsible for obtaining insurance and any permits necessary to complete the project.

Once it’s finished, the district will accept the memorial as a gift and approve its placement on the property. 

Following its completion, the school district will be responsible for the memorial’s upkeep.

According to Bacon, the district is currently working to secure the area from trespassers. In the past, he said, they’ve had issues with residents parking their trailers on the property overnight.

Bacon says he’s working to limit all unauthorized entry at the school grounds, including the inside of the school which he says is “very dangerous.” These efforts include boarding up the old windows, adding warning signage and a chained gate.