RINCON — It was almost as if Dr. Randy Shearouse had returned to the classroom as a teacher.

The superintendent of the Effingham County School District shared a wealth of information about education to a receptive group of about 25 during the monthly Men’s Breakfast at First Baptist Church Rincon on Sunday.

Shearouse opened his remarks with a scripture reference. He cited Matthew 19:14: “But Jesus said, ‘Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ ”

 “It is our responsibility to raise children and it does take a village to raise a child,” he said. “I will tell you that I am very appreciative of our county and the support that we receive as a school system. We really have great support throughout the county and you don’t get that everywhere.

“I am very appreciative of that and I certainly don’t take that for granted.”

Shearouse comes from a long line of educators. His mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were teachers. He served the system as a teacher, assistant principal and principal before becoming superintendent 15 years ago.

“I’ve loved every job that I’ve ever held,” the 31-year system veteran said.

Shearouse then started reeling off tidbits that give the people of Effingham County a reason to be proud. He started with the new Rincon Elementary School.

“Its’ certainly a great design, a great facility,” he said. “It’s a big school. It’s was built for 1,200 kids.

“It came with a big price tag, too.”

The new facility on Fort Howard Road, which currently houses 985 students, cost $20 million, Shearouse said.

“That’s about $150 per square foot, which is a pretty good price — believe it or not,” he said. “With all the safety equipment you have to have in a school, that adds a lot to the cost — sprinkler systems, alarms systems and that type of thing.”

Shearouse said the old Rincon Elementary School is being used to house the system’s alternative school, Crossroads Academy, and Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support (GNETS) students. Until recently, Effingham County’s GNETS students were bused to Savannah.

“We had three buses drivers going to Savannah everyday with a bus driver and an aid,” Shearouse said. “Now we don’t have to send buses over there everyday and that is saving us between $150,000 to $200,000 a year. Plus, the kids don’t have to spend an hour and a half on the bus.

“That’s been a big improvement for us.”

The superintendent briefly discussed redistricting. The Effingham County Board of Education approved new school zones last year in an effort to balance school enrollments.

“We are going to have to do that every once in a while just because of the growth in the county,” he said, “and, of course, most of the growth is occurring in the south end of the county.”

The system has 12,372 students, including 6,227 in elementary grades.

“I really think we are going to have to look for some additional classrooms or additional elementary schools in the next several years,” Shearouse said. “And we are going to have to look at additional middle schools in the next several years just because of the growth we are experiencing.”

Shearouse then boomeranged back to Rincon Elementary School, thanking the men for supporting the E-SPLOST that funded its construction. He said the penny sales tax generates about $750,000 monthly, meaning the school will be paid off before the tax expires.

“At the end of five years, we will have paid that off and we won’t owe anything on any of the buildings in the district,” he said.

Shearouse said the construction of the STEM Academy eased the need for a third high school in the county any time soon. It has about 1,000 students.

“We’re growing by about 300 kids a year consistently. That’s what we’ve been experiencing,” Shearouse said. “I’d say anywhere from 250 to 400 would kind of be the trend over the next several years. If you think that our average elementary school is built for 750 students, that means every three years you almost need a new elementary school.

“It just depends on where they grow.”

The school district in the largest employer in the county with 1,677 employees. Nine hundred twenty-five of them hold certified positions (teachers, counselors, etc.).

“We actually have a few less than we did in 2009 and 2010 when the recession came,” the superintendent said. “We had to reduce our staff and we haven’t fully recovered — believe it or not — but we are working on it. We’ve grown a lot and that means we have larger classes and we don’t have as many people in certain areas.”

Effingham County offers its teachers more money than area systems excluding Chatham County, Shearouse said.

“That has helped in recruiting,” he said. “It’s very difficult to find teachers right now, especially in math, science and special education.”

Shearouse pointed to studies that indicate a significant percentage of new teachers leave the profession in their first five years.

“That’s why it’s very important for us to try to retain all the teachers that we can,” he said.

Shearouse, using a projector, also discussed transportation. The system has 121 buses that run 366 routes.

“That’s a big business in the school district as well,” he said. “You can see we transport, in the morning, about 7,600 kids and, in the afternoon, about 8,300. I know you don’t think that when you look in front and see all the people taking their children to school.

“It looks like no one is riding the bus but that’s a lot of kids on the bus.”

Shearouse said future schools will feature staging areas like to one at Rincon Elementary School to help keep traffic from backing up into nearby streets. That problem is especially acute at Blandford Elementary, Marlow Elementary and the schools at Ebenezer.

“We hope to get some money in the future to improve some of those things,” he said.

Shearouse expressed pleasure with the return on the system’s $1.2 million purchase of 300-acre Honey Ridge Plantation.

“It really was a good buy, especially if you look at the price of land in Effingham County now,” he said. “It was a super buy.”

The property is used for field trips, agriculture instruction, veterinary science classes, festivals, tractor pulls, running events and many other things.

“A lot of our kids benefit from it ...,” Shearouse said.

Shearouse also discussed safety enhancements. Safety vestibules have been or will soon be added at the system’s three middle schools and two high schools. Options for new locking systems and cameras are being explored, too.

“I don’t want a fortress — I want people to feel welcome at schools — but we have to look out for student safety,” he said. “We have hired additional resource officers.”

Lastly, Shearouse touted the system’s course offerings and academic successes. It has numerous courses designed to help students launch careers in growing fields.

Effingham County ranks in the top 15 percent or higher in state test scores and its graduation rate is 91 percent. The graduation rate was just 60 percent 15 years ago, Shearouse said.

“There are lots off opportunities for kids if they take advantage of them,” he said.