Norfolk council members express frustration with School Board over closure plan delays
Two Norfolk Municipal Assembly members expressed their disappointment on ongoing activities to close and reinforce Norfolk School Board and Urban Schools on Tuesday.
On Monday, the school board delayed the second vote in a closing plan, Beyond a deadline It was determined by the Council to adopt a plan to close at least 10 schools.
Two members of the Council called the school board of directors soon and did not dictate how the school system could use the city financing during the next budget cycle.
Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, “not outside the table,” he said. “On the table.”
At a private school board meeting on Monday, members created a new draft plan based on a timeline from David Sturtz, a Woolpert adviser who was hired to supervise the closing process, and Richard Fraley, the chief operations responsible for the school area. Sturtz and Fraley formed their plans after a zoom meeting of the facilities and planning committee of the school area on September 24th. This meeting was not announced to the public.
The Council initially set a plan for a plan. Norfolk School Chairman of the Board of Directors Sarah Dicalogero and Temporary Inspector James Pohl He asked for an extension from the city before Until 19 September.
During the meeting on Monday, Dicalogero suggested that members vote for the new draft on October 15th.
At the same time, Carlos Clanton, a member of the Municipal Assembly, who is a former school member of the board of directors, accepted the delays of the school board and wondered whether the body would continue to throw the box on the road ”. He encouraged his members to make a bold decision and accept that he could not please everyone.
“You want negotiation and this is great, but you have to make a decision, Clart Clanton said.
Clanton said the school administrative board should show that the municipal council can give them the level of trust required to maintain the current financing structure.
A joint meeting of the School Board and Municipal Assembly is planned on 7 October. Alexander said that if the school board did not vote for a closure plan until then, it would propose the delay of this meeting.
Alexander, board members Tanya Bhasin and Jason Inge did not approve of a previous plan and the engineering advisor Woolpert will choose a plan for the participation of a plan, he said. He did not comment on the new plan.
In a response sent by E -Post, Dicalogero said that the school administrative board has worked carefully to follow the guidance of the Municipal Assembly and aimed to share the current plan with the body on October 7 before the last vote.
“We believed that this will ensure that our proposal will be compatible with the criteria specified in the decision of the City Council,” Dicalogero said.
He also said that the school administrative board demanded that the city shift of the city shift allocates capital improvement financing from Granby Primary School and Norview Elementary School to other schools.
Vice President of the Municipal Assembly Martin Thomas and its members Mamie Johnson, John JP Paige, Tommy Smigiel and Jeremy McGee did not respond to comments on Tuesday. Member Courtney Doyle refrained from commenting.
After years of discussions about the Council of Closing Norfolk Schools, the Municipal Assembly Members approved a march asking to the school board of directors To create a plan to close at least 10 schools. The decision also said that the municipal council could dictate how the city financing can be used by the region and punishable action against the school administrative board. Currently, the city school system gives every budget a collective payment.
The plan introduced on Monday would be closed: Ghent School, Tarrallton Primary School, Willoughby Early Childhood Center, Granby Primary School, PB Young Primary School, Norview Elementary School, Berkley Early Childhood Center, Norfolk Southeast Cooperative Education Programs Center and Norfolk Technical Center.
Unlike the plan developed by the previous school board, it summarizes a certain time schedule for closing.
Willoughby and Norview would close at the beginning of the 2026-27 academic year. Tarrallton, PB Young, Granby and Ghent school would close at the beginning of the 2027-28 academic year. Norfolk Southeast Cooperative Training Programs Center would close at the beginning of the 2028-29 academic year. Berkley Early Childhood Center would close at the beginning of the 2029-30 academic year and the Norfolk Technical Center would close at the beginning of the 2030-31 academic year.
The plans would carry the Ghent program to the field of International Research Academy at Rosemont Secondary School. Southeast Cooperative Training Program would move to Chesterfield Primary School, and these students would settle in Jacox Elementary School and Richard Bowling Primary School.
Lake Taylor High School, Jacox and Suburban Park Primary School or St. Helena Primary School will be rebuilt under plan.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, Trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
