At a work session this evening, the Albemarle County School Board reached consensus to address the elementary enrollment growth in the Crozet area with an addition at Brownsville Elementary. Some students will be redistricted from Crozet Elementary to existing available seats at Brownsville for Fall 2007 to address the overcrowding currently at Crozet. No redistricting details have been discussed yet, but with this capital decision made, staff will initiate a public process that allows for community feedback to the Board.
The previously proposed addition for Crozet Elementary was removed from the first 5 years of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). It will remain as a potential project in the second 5 year period of the 10-year CIP (In the discussions, I stated my preference for building a third neighborhood elementary school in Crozet before we add on to Crozet Elementary).
In other discussions by the School Board, there was consensus to move forward renovations to Greer Elementary, potentially starting them in 2008 instead of 2009. The addition and renovation for Albemarle High School (starting in 2007) and the addition for Western Albemarle High School (starting in 2010) were kept on their recommended schedule in the CIP. The additions and renovations scheduled for elementary schools in the Southern Feeder Pattern (Scottsville/Red Hill), were pushed back on the CIP schedule to allow Brownsville and Greer to move forward.
Staff will take this feedback from the School Board and develop a final 2007-2016 CIP proposal for the Board's approval at our December 14, 2006 meeting. Then it will be sent to the Board of Supervisors for their consideration.
Thank you to all the citizens that gave me feedback on this issue by e-mail and telephone over the past couple of months.
Brian Wheeler
As a life-long resident of the Crozet area, I do hope that when the school board discusses the redistricting of 'some' Crozet students to Brownsville, they will consider the long-term and not the short-term. Making small adjustments to the numbers helps neither school and the ramifications of looking at short-term fixes can be adverse to the children. I would hope that the board would consider the effect on the children when having to change schools. Simply moving 'some' ( few )kids as was proposed by previous advisory committee's was short-sighted for the area and hurtful to the children. No doubt, these children would have been caught up in a tweaking of the districts later on and have been shuttled back and forth as new redistricting plans were implemented. Since redistricting for next school year seems to be a done deal, I strongly encourage the board to make permanent decisions - not temporary fixes. Also, I would request allowing children currently enrolled to finish their years at their current school. That IS what is best for the children and that should be a number one priority when developing these plans. I believe this was advocated under a previous crozet redistricting plan. If the board is considering the children along with the best plan for the school, this should not be an issue. Do not make this only about numbers.
Posted by: M Farina | November 30, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Brian, until the school growth issue is resolved, all new construction of homes in Crozet must be halted! It is ridiculous that the entire fifth Grade class at Crozet Elem is housed in trailers. Where are the morals of this board? The developers must be held accountable
Posted by: Richard McLernan | December 01, 2006 at 06:08 AM