Roseland development will overcrowd county schools

Dear Editor,

I am not at all surprised that [school board members] Patty Carpenter, Marshall Trammell and Dianne Pettitt support Roseland's development [May 14] even though there are not enough schools to support current needs in Matoaca and Clover Hill, let alone the new development. It won't affect Ms. Carpenter's or Mr. Trammell's districts as long as they keep redistricting in their own favor, and Ms. Pettitt seems to have turned her back on Clover Hill, so their supporting Roseland doesn't hurt them. They have already continued the "good ole boy" treatment of the 360 western corridor (Matoaca) as a non-entity in Chesterfield County.

When Tomahawk Creek Middle School was placed in the Midlothian District, (a cut out square they called Matoaca), Patty Carpenter was one of two people who spoke at the board of supervisors' meeting that was for that location (she is from the Midlothian school district after all), while over 100 residents, including board members of several concerned neighborhoods, waited until midnight to speak against it (many citizens had to leave before the issue was brought up), as it will cost too much in fuel to serve what most Chesterfield residents thought were the intended students. By intended students, we mean those that were suffering from extreme overcrowding at every educational level for years, not the Midlothian District which occasionally has minor overcrowding and will receive an additional 320 seats in a school set to open at 85 percent of capacity next year.

And lo and behold, rather than using it as a Matoaca school, giving relief to an extremely overcrowded Clover Hill school, it has been split with Midlothian to give them the use of three middle schools set to open at under 85 percent capacity in very close proximity (Tomahawk Creek, Midlothian and Providence) with additional seats planned. Clover Hill and Matoaca students in the 360 western corridor will continue to go to overcrowded schools which will require constant redistricting (Swift Creek and Bailey Bridge Middle will open overcapacity next year due to buildout of current and new neighborhoods), and they have absolutely no relief in sight. The location and overcrowding further hinders any feeder patterns that could have occurred had the school truly been built as a Matoaca school.

Why do future children in future developments and favored fast-growing areas receive better treatment than children who have suffered through overcrowding for years? Why will no Chesterfield politicians begin to serve all the current children of Chesterfield County instead of their own political agendas and favoritism (and developers)? How can Dianne Pettitt choose to support decisions that not only hurt the quality of education for children in the Matoaca District, but also decisions that extremely, negatively affect the education of children in her own Clover Hill District that must attend Swift Creek and Bailey Bridge middle schools?

Isn't a school board hired to support quality education for all students in a county? I'm sorry to say this is not currently true in Chesterfield County, has not been for a long time, and many of the children in the county that are not in the "favored" districts are paying for it dearly. It's time the citizens of this county stood up and demanded equal treatment for all the children in all schools and all school districts in Chesterfield and demand an end to certain areas receiving more than their share of our county's resources.

Kathy Horvath

Hampton Park

Tim Bullis, assistant director of community relations for Chesterfield County Public Schools, responds, "The elected school board received an update on the proposed Roseland development in April. Approval or denial of this proposal does not fall under the school board's purview; however, board members continue to be interested in learning more about the impact proposed developments will have on nearby schools now and in the future.

The geographic area in which the Roseland development would be built during the next 20 years currently is zoned to attend Evergreen and Watkins elementary schools, Midlothian Middle School and Midlothian High School. The school board is committed to ensuring all students achieve at high levels and are equipped with the skills needed to succeed in a global 21st century society. Strategic long-range facilities planning will help the board fulfill this commitment. Attendance zones proposed by a citizens committee and subsequently amended and approved by the school board should allow four middle schools to open below 100 percent capacity for the 2008-09 school year: Swift Creek (97 percent), Bailey Bridge (95), Tomahawk Creek (87) and Midlothian (83). Opening Midlothian at 83 percent capacity next year instead of its current 116 percent capacity provides room to accommodate some of the 720 middle school students projected to come from Roseland during the 20-year build out. Opening Tomahawk Creek at 87 percent allows for the school to absorb some of the enrollment growth from the Magnolia Green development. In addition, the school board has committed to using the existing Clover Hill High School as a middle school after 2010 to help ease overcrowding in the 360 west corridor.

The 2004 bond referendum funded construction, renovation and addition projects throughout the school division. The new Tomahawk Creek Middle is one of five schools that will have opened within the last three years in Chesterfield County; three of these schools (Winterpock Elementary, Tomahawk Creek Middle and Cosby High) all are located and serve families within the Matoaca magisterial district."