Parents square off over Tomahawk plan
By Donna C. Gregory NEWS EDITOR

More than 200 middle school students live in Hampton Park. Some parents have asked the school board to consider moving them from Swift Creek Middle School to Tomahawk Creek Middle School as part of a current redistricting.

Months of rumors and grumblings came to a head last week when the public finally had their say over the proposed redistricting plan for Tomahawk Creek Middle School.

More than 50 speakers took to the microphone to show their support or opposition to the plan, which impacts students from Swift Creek, Midlothian and Bailey Bridge middle schools. Some were Hampton Park parents, jostling for their children to attend the new school. Others expressed exasperation over what they believe was the unfairness of the process, saying many communities impacted by the redistricting weren't represented on the committee that developed the redistricting proposal.

Unfair advantage?

Of the 21 members on the committee, only one member lives in the Bailey Bridge District south of Hull Street Road while Brandermill and Woodlake both had three members each. Most of the remaining members came from what is now being proposed as the Tomahawk Creek District, leading some to believe the boundaries were skewed by the committee's makeup.

"When I found out about the committee, it had already been formed," wrote Angie Steele, president of the Evergreen Elementary School PTA, in an e-mail after the public hearing. "Supposedly Evergreen was to be contacted when the committee was looking for members, but we were not."

The proposal calls for Evergreen students to feed into three different middle schools - Midlothian, Bailey Bridge and Tomahawk Creek. "I don't know how that fits into any feeder pattern," complained Evergreen parent Daniel Carney.

County resident Kathy Horvath called the committee's proposal "self-serving" and "one-sided" because it doesn't adequately address overcrowding at Bailey Bridge and Swift Creek. She asked school board members not to open Tomahawk Creek as "a country club middle school."

Clarendon resident and Evergreen parent Alyssa Schuetz also questioned the makeup of the committee. "The majority of the committee members go to Tomahawk, and the rest of us have been excluded," said Schuetz. "Clarendon is the stepchild. We are the afterthought."

In a statement after the public hearing, Dianne Pettitt, chair of the school board, said, "We do acknowledge that the process wasn't what it should be."

She said the committee was formed during the summer months, making it difficult to recruit parents from all of the affected areas.

Empty seats

As proposed, Tomahawk Creek would open at 75 percent capacity with Midlothian and Swift Creek middle schools operating at 103 percent and 105 percent respectively. Bailey Bridge would be at 93 percent, but that leaves just 82 empty seats in an area that's expected to see considerable growth in coming years.

Lori Layman called opening Tomahawk Creek with so many empty seats "irresponsible."

Evergreen parent Tom Sanza agreed, saying it was unfair to students at the other schools to attend classes in trailers when there would be empty seats at Tomahawk Creek. "It's treating our children like second class citizens," said Sanza

Hampton Park resident Marc Manheim alleged committee members purposely drew the redistricting lines "to ensure that Tomahawk Creek opens with as few students as possible."

"It's unconscionable to open the school at 70 percent [capacity]," said Foxfire resident Cathy Kirk, adding that she understands, however, why the committee proposed leaving so many empty seats.

"Political agendas…placed the school in the wrong location, and that's why we are here tonight," said Kirk. "[The committee members] are afraid because of the policies of the past. They think there's not going to be another western middle school."

"Fill the [Tomahawk] school with the existing students in the west," urged Kirk.

Hampton Park

Many of the speakers were from Hampton Park, asking board members to send their children to Tomahawk Creek instead of Swift Creek. Hampton Park children currently attend Swift Creek, which is operating at 48 percent overcapacity. "We've been waiting our time," said Hampton Park resident Mike Ciucci.

"It's not about our children wanting to go to a new middle school," said Winterpock Elementary parent Becky Griswold. "Everyone wants to go to a new school, but not everyone should go."

Since Winterpock Elementary, which serves Hampton Park, is in the Matoaca District, it should feed into a middle school that's in the same district, rationalized Griswold. Swift Creek is in the Clover Hill District.

Hampton Park resident Patty Slagel said the committee focused more on future growth than addressing current overcrowding.

Committee member Sharon Ritter from Woodlake said it was impossible to meet the school system's goal of bringing each of the middle schools under 90 percent capacity. If Hampton Park and Ashbrook were shifted to Tomahawk Creek, the school would immediately face issues with overcrowding. "We felt it was irresponsible to open Tomahawk Creek at 100 percent capacity," said Ritter, pointing out the Tomahawk Creek site is not suitable for trailers. "Where would you put trailers?" she asked. "There is little usable room for trailers."

There are currently 233 middle school students in Hampton Park. Next year's projections increase the number of students to 262. Based on that number, if Hampton Park students were shifted to Tomahawk Creek, it would open at 96 percent capacity.

When asked if the school board is seriously considering moving Hampton Park to Tomahawk Creek, Bermuda District School Board member Marshall Trammell said, "I wouldn't want to guess at this point." But he conceded, "With the numbers, I'm just not sure that's going to work."

There's also the issue of bussing. If Hampton Park students attended Tomahawk Creek, "not all, but some of them would" literally have to drive past Swift Creek to get there, said Trammell.

Committee explanation

Probably sensing the turmoil to come, committee member Lisa Scaglione from Foxcroft was the first speaker of the night. She asked board members to accept the redistricting plan as proposed, saying it factored in existing and future growth.

The committee left 300 empty seats at Tomahawk Creek as a cushion for future growth in the district. Members have also cited that future additions at Midlothian and Swift Creek in 2011 and 2012 will further reduce overcrowding at those schools.

"We will all be overcapacity by the 2012 bond referendum," predicted Scaglione.

The Midlothian addition includes 10-15 new classrooms, creating 300 seats for students. The Swift Creek addition is less substantial, creating only 85 seats, since most of the space will be used for an auditorium and performing arts space.

School board response

Parents in general questioned the feeder patterns from elementary to secondary schools. Some called for a countywide redistricting.

After closing the public hearing, school board members regrouped and made some general statements to the waning crowd.

"We would love to fix [the feeder patterns], but it's just not possible," said Pettitt. "Chesterfield County builds schools to the size we do because this is the most efficient way to do it."

New elementary schools are typically built to accommodate 900 students with middle schools having a capacity of around 1,200 students. Logistically, that means some elementary schools will be split when students feed into the larger middle schools. The same thing happens when students make the transition from a smaller middle school to a larger high school.

Pettitt said the school board is not opposed to considering more redistricting to help level out student enrollments. She also indicated that more relief could come if the current Clover Hill High School is converted into a middle school once its replacement opens on Genito Road in 2010. During an interview after the meeting, Trammell confirmed the conversion is among the "highest possibilities" for the Clover Hill building.

He also said the school board is "committed to increasing the [enrollment] at Tomahawk Creek."

Board members are meeting with school administrators this week to review different redistricting scenarios. Pettitt acknowledged another public hearing may be needed before the issue is voted on by the board.

Editor's note: Speakers were asked to sign up prior to the public hearing. Due to the difficulty of deciphering the handwriting of some speakers, some names may be misspelled. We apologize ahead of time for any errors.