Monday, March 9, 2026–7:25 p.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Rome City School Superintendent Eric Holland discusses the Community Recreation and Family Engagement Initiative during Monday’s Rome City Commission caucus.
The Rome City Commission heard from Rome City School Superintendent Eric Holland during their pre-meeting caucus on Monday.
Holland began developing a proposal titled the Community Recreation and Family Engagement Initiative following a meeting with Commissioners Harry Brock and Bill Collins.
Holland told the commission that the vision behind the proposal is to give kids an opportunity to participate and have a different experience when school is not in session.
“I started to think about winter break and holidays because I don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul,” he said. “I don’t want to present something that would conflict with the YMCA or the recreation department. So, this will pretty much be some ideas that we put together to complement what we have, but don’t compete with what we’ve already got, including our own athletics.”
The concept would involve activating two vacant facilities—the former Anna K. Davie Gym and the North Heights Gym to have activities for elementary, middle, and high school students.
The activities would include games, movie nights, parties, sports, leadership development, and career expo nights.
“It will provide a positive outlet for our students and reduce unsupervised time for our kids,” Holland said. “A lot of times our kids during fall break, spring break or Christmas break, they are unsupervised. If the kids are like I was when I grew up, my mother worked 12 hours a day for 365 days. When we are out for spring break, the parents are still at work, and the kids are at home by themselves.”
The vision also includes family engagement, and according to Holland, the Parent Resource Center can be utilized for that.
Holland stressed that it’s not a perfect plan, but it is a plan that can be perfected.
He added that the startup cost is estimated at $68,650.
The next step will be to conduct a walkthrough of the facilities with the city commission to see if a partnership is something they would be interested in.
After that, a pilot timeline would be established, followed by a finalized budget and funding partnerships.
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