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Crossing the line?
During the school board's public comment period last week, more than 15 parents, students and others spoke out in support of moving the CBG program from Manchester Middle School to either Tomahawk Creek or Swift Creek Middle School. Many argued that most of the CBG students live close to Tomahawk and Swift Creek, and that the redistricting is a good time to make the move. The group was just a fraction of local parents who support the move. An Internet petition currently includes the signatures of more than 270 residents who are calling for the change. When contacted last week for an interview, petition leaders declined to comment on the initiative to have the CBG program moved, saying they wanted to meet with school board members and school officials first to discuss the proposal before talking with the media. Parents at last week's meeting complained about a host of problems at Manchester including long, crowded bus rides, leaking trailers and concerns about school safety. "My kids wake up at 6 a.m., and they leave for school at 7 a.m.," said parent Paul Hux. His sons, Casey and Dustin, arrive at Manchester at 7:40 a.m. and then have to wait until 8:20 a.m. for classes to begin. Taking the podium after his father, Dustin complained that sometimes students have to sit three to a seat on the school bus, and at times, he's sat on his trumpet case in the center aisle. "Next year, I will have to stay on a bus for over one-and-a-half hours every day," complained another CBG student, Ian Lickers. Parent Scott Durfee said leaving the CBG program at Manchester doesn't "maximize proximity of students to school," citing one of the goals school board members tasked a committee with when developing new boundaries for Tomahawk Creek. Shelley Schuetz, who served on the committee of parents, educators and others who developed the proposed boundaries for the new Tomahawk Creek Middle School, asked school board members to consider splitting the CBG program by moving part of the students to Tomahawk. Currently, more than 500 of Manchester's students attend the CBG program. Parent Vincent Williams cited safety concerns at Manchester, claiming there have been bomb threats and that "students get searched." But according to school officials, Manchester has not had any bomb threats in more than a year. Several speakers supported leaving the CBG program at Manchester, including school Principal Jeff McGee, who disputed prior references to bomb threats, lockdowns and the accusation of drugs at his school. He added that student populations are expected to decline at Manchester, alleviating overcrowded hallways and classrooms there. He also said there are advantages to students attending school in a "diverse environment" with students from many different races and socioeconomic backgrounds. "There is a benefit for our children to get to know children of different backgrounds," added parent Natie Henelly. "Manchester offers this opportunity to all students." The student populations at Swift Creek and Tomahawk Creek will be mostly white and upper middle class whereas Manchester serves more minority students from lower and middle class backgrounds. Lee Ford, president of Manchester's PTA, said he was "saddened…by the horror stories" he'd heard from the speakers who criticized conditions at Manchester. He also took issue with the reference to a bomb threat, saying that no one mentioned a similar incident at Thomas Dale High School. "If those parents would volunteer there, they would actually see what happens at Manchester," he said, adding that some of the parents who spoke out were just "listening to rumors." "They almost want to segregate themselves from cultural diversity when their kids will still receive the academics they need to be successful in life," said Ford. Parent Eric Strickler took issue with the segregation comment saying, "This isn't about segregation. It's about looking at numbers, about where [the students live] and what they have to go through to get [to Manchester]." At the close of the public comment period, Bermuda District representative Marshall Trammell Jr. said, "How far we have come," referring to parents' complaints about the long bus rides to Manchester. When the CBG program began, said Trammell, it was the parents' responsibility to "find a way, to carpool, to get the kids to these schools." In an interview after the meeting, when asked if the school board might consider moving the CBG program, Trammell said, "This is my personal opinion, and I'm not in the position to speak for the entire board, but I don't think that's going to be likely for the coming year. We don't [move programs] lightly, and we don't do it at the end of a [redistricting] process. Normally, we want this kind of thing to be in the mix at the beginning." Dale District representative David Wyman appeared to agree. "From my perspective, we need to first review the strengths and issues associated with the recommendations concerning the boundaries that were presented at Tuesday's meeting without regard to the CBG program. This was the original guidance provided. Any future decisions related to CBG program locations must take a countywide view and will involve the appropriate school personnel, advisory committee inputs and public engagement sessions." More on redistricting The CBG issue came after a parent-led committee revealed its redistricting proposal for the first time to school board members in a public forum. Tomahawk Creek will open to students this fall, alleviating most overcrowding at nearby Bailey Bridge, Midlothian and Swift Creek middle schools. Committee members cited several challenges in developing the redistricting proposal including the proximity of the schools, unknown future growth, the impact of CBG students, rising student enrollments and the effort to keep students from large communities together. "We generated over 20 maps, and we tried to think of every possible scenario," said Sharon Ritter, a committee member from Woodlake. For the most part, the committee's proposal keeps neighborhoods together with the exception of Brandermill's Millcrest neighborhood and any new growth in Harper's Mill. But despite the committee's best efforts, Midlothian and Swift Creek middle schools will continue to operate overcapacity even after the redistricting (see charts). There will be further relief coming from additions at those two schools in 2011 and 2012. The school board will hold a public hearing on the redistricting proposal on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Manchester High School. For more information on the redistricting, visit www.chesterfieldobserver.com and click on "special," located in the menu on the left side of the homepage. Budget public hearing Only two speakers gave feedback on the annual school budget. County resident Fred Demey asked the school board to hold this year's increase in funding to 4 percent versus the 6 percent that's currently proposed. By his calculations, that would allow the board of supervisors to cut the current property tax rate by 5 cents, providing tax relief for county residents. Demey criticized the school system for its upward trend in spending, saying board members show a "disregard for taxpayers." He cited the $76.5 million that's being spent to build a replacement for Clover Hill High School as an example of bad spending practices, saying the school system could have cut costs by reducing the size of the new school's football stadium and eliminating several practice fields. Demey pointed out that more than half of the county's residents don't have children in the school system and are shouldering the costs for those who do. He cited numerous articles and letters to the editor from this newspaper during his comments. The second speaker was Lois Stanton, president of the Chesterfield Education Association, who thanked the school system for continuing its commitment to raise teacher salaries so they are competitive regionally. Stanton also expressed concerns about teachers at the top of the pay scale who receive annual raises that are lower than the cost of living and constant demands on teachers' time. She also asked the school system to look closely at developing a plan to decrease class sizes. The FY09 (starting July 1) budget calls for an additional $35.5 million in funding. If approved as proposed, about $13.1 million of that increase would come from county taxes. The entire operating budget totals $604.6 million, up from $569.1 million in FY08. School board members are expected to adopt the budget at their Feb. 26 meeting with the superintendent presenting the budget to the board of supervisors on Mar. 10. AP/honors courses At a work session prior to the regular business meeting, school board members received an update on the status of AP and honors classes with an emphasis on how to increase rigor. Some parents have expressed concern about the recent elimination of honors classes at some high schools, saying students need a middle ground between AP courses, which require college level work, and regular classes that might not be challenging enough. Manchester Principal Pete Koste pointed out that when "students make a decision to do something and do it right, you would be amazed at what they can do. When you give them outs, they take outs." In response to parent complaints, James River Principal John Titus said students are often under-challenged and underrepresented. At James River, honors world history has been merged into AP world history and 55 teachers have been trained in AP teaching. The teachers and administration targeted the underrepresented in AP classes. Several concerned parents attended the work session. "I am categorically opposed to the concept of eliminating middle ground honors classes from the high schools," said parent Nick Tarasidis prior to the session. Tarasidis and his wife, Maria, who also attended the session, have three sons ages 16, 20 and 22. Each of their children took either honors or AP classes or a mix of the two. Board members were expected to discuss the AP/honors issue at their work session earlier this week. Additional reporting by Susan Nienow.
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