Specialty centers undergo review
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Elli Morris/Chesterfield Observer Daniel Meyer, a member of the Thomas Dale Jazz Band, practices playing his trumpet. Meyer is one of about 235 students who attend the Visual and Performing Arts Specialty Center at Thomas Dale High School.

The specialty centers at Chesterfield’s high schools will soon undergo a cost-benefit analysis.

“We want to make sure that what we set out to do is actually taking place and [the specialty centers] are the best use of our resources,” said School Board Chairman Marshall Trammell.

Teachers, administrators and the school board are questioning how viable they are when only 10 percent of Chesterfield’s 18,278 high school students are enrolled in the county’s 14 specialty centers. The issue surfaced at a school board work session earlier this month.

According to Ed Witthoefft, director of high schools, the only specialty center approaching its student capacity is the Mathematics and Science High School at Clover Hill High School. After about 20 years, it has 338 students, down from a recent peak of 364. About five years ago, the French emersion specialty center was dropped there when just seven students signed up.

Witthoefft said the goal used to be at least 50 students per grade, but that standard has been discontinued. Spanish emersion at Manchester High School has grown from 20 students five years ago, but only has 84 currently, the smallest of the specialty centers. During the same period, Manchester’s Mass Communications Center has grown from 57 to 180.

Larger enrollments make staffing easier though there have been some staffing difficulties because qualifications for teachers at the Mathematics and Science High School and some advanced classes are more stringent. “Our guideline is not to have a class with fewer than 15 students,” explained Witthoefft. The typical student-teacher ratio in high school is 25-1, and to make up for the difference, band and physical education classes may have 50 students per teacher.

Some teachers who don’t teach at the specialty centers have complained about the discrepancy between the number of students placed in regular classrooms and the lower ratios in specialty center classrooms.

“Teachers in regular classrooms want the student-teacher ratios of the specialty centers,” said Trammell. “[Teachers with more students] feel that may not be the best way to spend the money.”

Asked about the point of view of teachers, Lois Stanton, president of the Chesterfield Education Association, said teachers seemed to “question the spending.”

A smaller number of students per class also affects the school’s functional capacity—the number of students in classrooms available for teaching. When functional capacity declines, more trailers for classrooms are needed to meet the needs of a growing student population.

But Vice Chairman Jim Schroeder supported the specialty centers, saying, “It brings the whole school up [academically].”

Another cost of the specialty centers is transportation. Witthoefft said “door-to-door bus transportation is not provided, but [buses] often go to the home school [for those students who need it].” The home school is the high school that the student would ordinarily attend based on where he/she lives. Of those attending specialty center schools, 54 percent travel away from their home school. (To see how many students must travel to attend each specialty center, go to www.chesterfieldobserver. com and click on “special.”)

To increase enrollments, the school system holds a fair each October to introduce the specialty centers to parents and students. Each school then holds open houses to attract the support of parents and encourage the students to attend.

The newest specialty center—Health Science—will open next fall at Cosby High School. The idea was conceived when local hospital officials met with former Superintendent Billy Cannaday to express their health care staffing needs. Witthoefft said the center will cater to all students—those entering the workforce directly after high school and those going on to community college or a four-year education. It fits the job market, but how many students will enroll is unknown.

At the work session, James River High School Principal John Titus asked for an unfilled commitment to be met: putting the classrooms used by each specialty center in the same area of the school. Currently, specialty center classrooms are spread out throughout James River.

The specialty centers also include the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for Arts and Technology in Petersburg and the Maggie Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies in Richmond. For the former, 129 Chesterfield students attend while 222 students go to the Walker school.