Team claims voice muted on Albemarle school closings

Will Superintendent Pamela Moran recommend closing one or more schools in southern Albemarle County?
That’s the question on the minds of parents with children at Red Hill, Yancey and Scottsville elementary schools. But some appointed to help Moran decide whether to renovate or close the small, old schools say their voices have been muted.

The Southern Feeder Pattern Study Team, composed of 24 community members, parents and officials, had been charged with recommending to Moran what should be done with the schools. Some members of the study team — which had met for several months to gather information and consider possible combinations of renovating, building and closing schools — say the team should have given Moran a single recommendation.
“It was always mentioned that the job of the committee was to come up with one recommendation,” said study team member Graham Paige, a resident who lives near Yancey Elementary.
Instead, the team was asked to vote on their top two choices, according to meeting minutes.

The bulk of the voting members called for the schools to be renovated and kept open, and the second most popular option was to close all of the schools and build a new elementary near Walton Middle.
Instead of the most popular option — keeping all three schools open — being recommended to the superintendent, the group was dismantled and the Long Range Planning Advisory Committee began studying the matter. It ultimately recommended closing all of the schools and building one large school.
Both Paige and fellow Southern Feeder Pattern Study Team member Stephanie Morris say only one recommendation should have been given to the superintendent: Keep the schools open.

“We were never given that opportunity to make our one final recommendation,” Morris said.
Bruce Benson, assistant superintendent for planning and operations, said the group was able to complete its mission.
“We are treating the [option of] renovations and additions at the three schools as the majority recommendation,” Benson said, adding that administrators recognize the option to close all three schools as the study team’s “minority recommendation.”
Moran will make a recommendation to the School Board on Thursday about what to do with the schools. Moran declined to comment prior to making her recommendation.

Many questions remain unanswered: Is it cheaper to renovate the existing schools or operate a large school? Which scenario would provide the best education for pupils? Would the small schools’ community atmosphere transfer to a bigger school?
Moran has placed all the data she is using to make her decision available for public perusal online. To view the documents, visit http://tiny.cc/jPTbs.
A public hearing on the small schools proposal is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Monticello High School. The School Board plans to vote on what should be done with the three schools on Oct. 22.