County will not merge small schools

In what could hardly be called a surprise move, the Albemarle County School Board voted unanimously Thursday night not to consolidate three elementary schools.

The move followed the recommendation of Superintendent Pamela Moran and widespread community sentiment, and was in line with what board members earlier indicated they would do.

“I think that the board did due diligence in looking at the data and that obviously they were going to take into account all of the different voices, including mine,” Moran said.

Residents in the attendance zones for Red Hill, Yancey and Scottsville elementary schools objected with vigor when the idea of consolidation was raised.

School officials need to provide new facilities for what’s called the “southern feeder system” to keep pace with newer facilities throughout the county and to accommodate a projected enrollment influx.

The renovations that would take place at the three schools in lieu of consolidation are expected to cost about $17 million. A new, consolidated school would have cost $20 million, but would have likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less per year to maintain.

Esmont resident Graham Paige said he was “really thrilled” with the decision.

“That’s a really key part of the community,” he said.

Small schools are particularly important in rural areas, where they form a touchstone of the community, he said.

He had worried that consolidation could have damaged community cohesion and sent property values plummeting.

The decision, which is officially part of a recommended plan for new construction projects, now faces committee review and ultimately must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

School Board member Steve Koleszar praised the decision.

“Obviously, I’m pleased,” he said. “I think we went through a really good process and the superintendent’s recommendation was right to the point.”

In her recommendation, Moran cited a variety of factors, including community sentiment, the relatively low savings a consolidation was projected to generate and the difficulty of setting up a sewage treatment system at the proposed site of the consolidated school.