NORFOLK, Va. — Ten schools in Norfolk need to close, the city decided in March. Wednesday night, a committee met to work out which schools will be impacted.
It's a complex problem for the group weighing options. Priorities were equity, facility conditions and class size and staffing.
"I think some of the sticking points were making sure all the schools we're talking about are getting the needs of the community met. We don't want to close a school and not have the same services the community needs. We understand the need of filling schools to almost capacity so they're being utilized to their utmost potential but we also don't want to disenfranchise the school by completely taking away," said Tyrone Weems, fifth grade teacher at Lindenwood Elementary. "Like one of the things we talked about is children who walk or ride their bike to school, parents who drive a short distance. So when this is happening, are we including their needs?"
"There's an opportunity for us to really have equity throughout all of Norfolk Public Schools, to really have the best outcome for our kids if we think about the equity going forward instead of right now in this snapshot," added Vincent Hodges, community advocate. "For me, my main priorities were to advocate for my community."
The initiative to close schools is meant to ease financial strain caused by surplus school capacity — a situation where a school district has more seats available than the number of students enrolled — and funnel savings into critical capital improvement projects, to fix area high schools and build new elementary schools to replace aging structures. You can learn more about the need for the initiative here.
"I think the public should keep in mind that [those on the committee] don't want to have increased class sizes, but we want to have state-of-the-art schools. I think the public should also keep in mind that they too have a job themselves to prepare the children to come to school ready to learn. We want to make sure each and every classroom has a certified teacher. We want to build capacity," said Weems.
"This is a process that's really going to affect the landscape where our kids learn," added Hodges.
After four hours of discussion and a survey, a preliminary list went up.
The schools that came up the most on the survey were: Granby Elementary, Tarrallton Elementary, Willoughby ECC, James Monroe Elementary, Norview Elementary, Oceanair Elementary, Berkley ECC, St. Helena Elementary, PB Young Elementary, Chesterfield Elementary and Lindenwood Elementary.
The results were met with mixed feelings.
"The survey as a group had kind of one direction and then individuals, people kind of went off in a different direction. I don't think it aligned 100 percent — not even 100 percent — I think it was quite different that the individual wanted something quite different than what the groups wanted," said Weems.
"I was a little bit disappointed. But knowing that we're going to meet again, having a clearer path that we can interact with school board members on, I think there's still hope," said Hodges.
Of course these results are only preliminary. It has not been decided when or what order the schools will close or what transitional plans will look like. The committee emphasized that this is just the beginning of a years-long process and encourage community involvement throughout.
An initial community meeting is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon and evening of June 24. There's expected to be a condensed presentation on consolidations and rebuilds and small-groups discussions between committee members and community members. Updates and information on the initiative can be found on the school district's webpage.
