LAURINBURG — The former I. Ellis Johnson Elementary School property will be highly talked about on Monday.

The Scotland County Board of Commissioners will be holding a special meeting at 11 a.m. to discuss the future of the former school. That meeting will be held at the Edwin Morgan Center at 517 Peden St. in Laurinburg.

The special meeting comes after the commissioners discussed the project during its regular monthly meeting last week. Numerous members in the community spoke in favor of the county taking over the building from the school system to turn into a community center. The board didn’t make any decisions during the meeting but agreed to continue moving forward so a solution can be found in how to revitalize the existing building or look at an option for a new facility.

The IEJ Revitalization Committee met the following day with representatives from the county, city and school system to discuss what the commissioners had concerns about — but were deadlocked on any conclusions to take back to county commissioners.

Following the Monday morning meeting, the Scotland County Board of Education will meet at 6 p.m. in the A.B. Gibson Center at 322 South Main St. in Laurinburg for its monthly meeting.

The board will also discuss IEJ and whether there is a decision made about the school during the commissioners 11 a.m. meeting.

At the end of July during the Committee of the Whole meeting, the board unanimously decided to offer the school to the county at no cost.

IEJ closed at the end of the 2019-20 school year along with South Scotland Elementary as part of the consolidation plan by the school system. South Johnson Elementary combined both teachers and staff in the 114,000-square-foot school which opened during the pandemic in August of 2020 and welcome students back earlier this year to in-person learning.

South Johnson Elementary will also have its open house and portrait reveal on Aug. 23 at 4 p.m.

Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.